Observation of spin polarization of projectile fragments from 106 A MeV 40Ca+Au collisions

Spin polarization of projectile fragments 37 K and 39 Ca has been observed in 106 A MeV 40 Ca+ 197 Au collisions n ear the grazing angle. The fragment polarization was determined to be positive for points on the high momentum side of the distribution and negative for points on the low momentum side. At the highest energy, the spin polarization follows the same systematics observed at much lower energies, where it is believed that very different reaction mechanisms dominate. A simple fragmentation model explained the observed momentum dependence of the polarization quite well.