Compton Scattering from the Deuteron and Extracted Neutron Polarizabilities

Abstract

Differential cross sections for Compton scattering from the deuteron were measured at MAX-lab for incident photon energies of 55 MeV and 66 MeV at nominal laboratory angles of $45^\circ$, $125^\circ$, and $135^\circ$. Tagged photons were scattered from liquid deuterium and detected in three NaI spectrometers. By comparing the data with theoretical calculations in the framework of a one-boson-exchange potential model, the sum and difference of the isospin-averaged nucleon polarizabilities, $α_N + β_N = 17.4 \pm 3.7$ and $α_N - β_N = 6.4 \pm 2.4$ (in units of $10^{-4}$ fm$^3$), have been determined. By combining the latter with the global-averaged value for $α_p - β_p$ and using the predictions of the Baldin sum rule for the sum of the nucleon polarizabilities, we have obtained values for the neutron electric and magnetic polarizabilities of $α_n= 8.8 \pm 2.4$(total) $\pm 3.0$(model) and $β_n = 6.5 \mp 2.4$(total) $\mp 3.0$(model), respectively.