MEASUREMENT OF THE POLARIZATION OF PHOTONEUTRONS FROM DEUTERIUM

The polarization of the neutrons produced by photodisintegration of deuterium by 2.75-Mev gamma rays has been measured and the results com-pared to theoretical predictions. The photoneutrons were taken at five gamma-ray-neutron angles between 45 ° and 135 ° in the laboratory and scattered from magnesium which has a broad resonance at these neutron energies. The po~ larization was determined from the asymmetry in the left-right scattering from magnesium. The neutrons are found to be negatively polarized as pre-dicted. The magnitude of the polarization and the dependence on the gamma-ray-neutron angle are found to be in agreement with the theory within experi-mental error