The Electric Formfactor of the Neutron Determined by Quasielastic Scattering of Longitudinally Polarized Electrons from 3He and 2D

The recent availability of polarized electron beams at electron accelerator laboratories adds another technique to probing the electromagnetic structure of nuclear matter [1]. The present paper discusses the application of polarized electron scattering to the determination of the electric formfactor of the neutron. Its value at medium energies is only poorly known hitherto. Electron scattering is dominated by interaction with the neutron magnetic moment. Therefore the contribution of the charge distribution to the scattering cross section is scarcely detectable in case of unpolarized collision partners. The elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from a polarized neutron target offers a new and better chance to measure the neutron electric formfactor.