Spin Structure Function of the Deuteron in the Resonance Region and the GDH Sum Rule for the Neutron

Abstract

The nuclear effects in the spin-dependent structure function $g_1$ of the deuteron are studied in the kinematics of future experiments at CEBAF, ($\nu \leq 3~GeV, ~Q^2 \leq 2~GeV^2$). The magnitude of the nuclear effects is found to be significantly larger than the one occurring in deep inelastic scattering ($\nu\to \infty, ~Q^2\to \infty$). We discuss the mechanism leading to large effects in the region of the nucleon resonances. A possibility to measure the neutron structure functions in the CEBAF experiments with deuterium is analysed, and conclusions about the experimental study of the $Q^2$ dependence of the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn Sum Rule for the neutron are drawn.