Compton Scattering on Light Nuclei

Abstract

Compton scattering on light nuclei ($A=2,3$) has emerged as an effective avenue to search for signatures of neutron polarizabilities, both spin--independent and spin--dependent ones. In this discussion I will focus on the theoretical aspect of Compton scattering on light nuclei; giving first a brief overview and therafter concentrating on our Compton scattering calculations based on Chiral effective theory at energies of the order of pion mass. These elastic $\gamma$d and $\gamma$He-3 calculations include nucleons, pions as the basic degrees of freedom. I will also discuss $\gamma$d results where the $\Delta$-isobar has been included explicitly. Our results on unpolarized and polarization observables suggest that a combination of experiments and further theoretical efforts will provide an extraction of the neutron polarizabilities.

Comments: 10 pages, 14 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of the IUPAP Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics, Aug 31 - Sep 5, 2009, Bonn, Germany