Spin-dependent cross sections from the three-body photodisintegration of ³He at incident energies of 12.8 and 14.7 MeV.

The first measurement of the three-body photodisintegration of polarized ³He using a circularly polarized photon beam has been performed at incident energies of 12.8 and 14.7 MeV. This measurement was carried out at the high-intensity γ-ray source located at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory. A high-pressure ³He target, polarized via spin exchange optical pumping with alkali metals, was used in the experiment. The spin-dependent double- and single-differential cross sections from ³He(γ,n)pp for laboratory angles varying from 30° to 165° are presented and compared with state-of-the-art three-body calculations. The data reveal the importance of including the Coulomb interaction between protons in the three-body calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]