Colloquia

Polarized 3He is an interesting target for nuclear physics experiments due to its particular spin structure which allows its use as a polarized neutron as well as polarized proton target. Further, the nucleus is simple enough that exact solutions of its wave function and the reaction channels are available. On the other hand all important interactions between the three nucleons are present and can be studied. Polarization experiments open up new degrees of freedom and find a wide field of application due to their particular sensitivity as well as due to the advantages of asymmetry measurements in general.

In this talk I will discuss polarized target technology and will explain the technique and installation used to polarize 3He for the nuclear physics target at MAMI. The emphasis of the talk is on the results achieved so far at MAMI with polarized 3He. Their purpose is twofold: To test the reliability of the theoretical description of 3He and to measure the electric form factor of the neutron. An outlook about ongoing and future research will be given.