Polarization observables in (${\vec \gamma},{\vec N}N$) reactions

Abstract

The formalism of (${\vec \gamma},{\vec N}N$) reactions is given where the incident photon is polarized and the outgoing nucleon polarization is detected. Sixteen structure functions and fifteen polarization observables are found in the general case, while only eight structure functions and seven polarizations observables survive in coplanar kinematics. Numerical examples are presented for the $^{16}$O($\gamma,pn$) and $^{16}$O($\gamma,pp$) reactions. The transitions to the ground state of $^{14}$C and $^{14}$N are calculated in a model where realistic short-range and tensor correlations are taken into account for the $pn$ pair, while short-range and long-range correlations are included in a consistent way for $pp$ pairs. The effects of the one-body and two-body components of the nuclear current and the role of correlations in cross sections and polarizations are studied and discussed.