The proposed project involves basic nuclear physics research at various accelerator laboratories. Using the Laser Electron Gamma Source (LEGS) at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory, experiments will be performed using polarized gamma rays to study the photodisintegration of the deuteron, the E2/M1 ratio of the delta, the polarizabilities of the proton and the neutron, and pion production. At the SATURNE National Laboratory in Saclay, France, experiments on pion, kaon, and eta production will be studied using proton-proton and proton-nucleus reactions. Experiments studying spin degrees of freedom in nuclei are also planned using inelastic scattering of polarized protons and deuterons. These studies extend a continuing research program at the Clinton P. Anderson Meson Physics Facility in Los Alamos which has focussed on pion-nucleus elastic and inelastic interactions and pion absorption. The proposed experiments involving meson production (absorption) and the fundamental properties of the nucleon will provide detailed information on the general structure of the hadrons (shape and polarizabilities) and on the hadronic interaction which intrinsically involves meson exchange. In addition, experiments involving nuclear targets (other than the proton) will yield information on specific aspects of nuclear structure.
