Parity violation in nuclear systems

Experimental measurements of Parity Non-Conserving (PNC) asymmetries in simple nuclear systems represent always a key-tool for the study of the weak nucleon-nucleon interaction and consequently an accurate experimental method for the determination of the meson-nucleon weak coupling constants of the underlying theory. Recent theoretical analysis on the deuteron photodisintegration with polarized photons, a few MeV above threshold, have drastically improved previous theoretical estimates. Based on that, the feasibility of measuring the photon asymmetry Aγ in the reaction $\bar{\gamma} + d \rightarrow n + p$ with the 10-MeV CW Linac at the Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications (IASA) is considered here. A brief review on previous experimental results obtained in the deuteron photodisintegration and in the thermal-neutron radiative capture on protons (inverse reaction) is given. The most important parameters in the design of a nuclear parity experiment are presented and the crucial factors, such as beam intensity, beam polarization and neutron detection techniques with the required high accuracy are outlined.PACS: 24.80.+y Nuclear tests of fundamental interactions and symmetries – 25.20.-x Photonuclear reaction