Polarization Measurements in High-Energy Deuteron Photodisintegration

We present measurements of the recoil proton polarization for the d(γ⃗,p⃗)n reaction at θc.m. = 90° for photon energies up to 2.4 GeV. These are the first data in this reaction for polarization transfer with circularly polarized photons. The induced polarization py vanishes above 1 GeV, contrary to meson-baryon model expectations, in which resonances lead to large polarizations. However, the polarization transfer Cx does not vanish above 1 GeV, inconsistent with hadron helicity conservation. Thus, we show that the scaling behavior observed in the d(γ,p)n cross sections is not a result of perturbative QCD. These data should provide important tests of new nonperturbative calculations in the intermediate energy regime.