EXCLUSIVE PHOTODISINTEGRATION OF 3HE WITH POLARIZED PHOTONS

The first measurement of exclusive photodisintegration of He-3 with polarized photons is reported. Cross sections and asymmetries for He-3(gamma over arrow pointing right, pn)p and He-3(gamma over arrow pointing right, pp)n at 235 less-than-or-equal-to E(gamma) less-than-or-equal-to 305 MeV are compared to a theoretical calculation which includes one-, two-, and three-nucleon photon absorption. Two-nucleon absorption dominates the pn data, but is suppressed in the pp data. The pp data require the inclusion of three-nucleon absorption to describe the cross section and beam asymmetry over all momenta.