High-energy Nuclear Optics of Polarized Particles

Book excerpt: The various phenomena caused by refraction and diffraction of polarized elementary particles in matter have opened up a new research area in the particle physics: nuclear optics of polarized particles. Effects similar to the well-known optical phenomena such as birefringence and Faraday effects, exist also in particle physics, though the particle wavelength is much less than the distance between atoms of matter. Current knowledge of the quasi-optical effects, which exist for all particles in any wavelength range (and energies from low to extremely high), will enable us to investigate different properties of interacting particles (nuclei) in a new aspect. This pioneering book will provide detailed accounts of quasi-optical phenomena in the particle polarization, and will interest physicists and professionals in experimental particle physics.