Electron Polarization In The Medium-Energy Electron-Ion Collider At JLAB

A key feature of the Medium-energy Electron-Ion Collider (MEIC) at Jefferson Lab is high polarization (over 80%) of the electron beam at all collision points for the particle physics program. The equilibrium electron polarization is arranged to be vertical in the arcs of the figure-8 collider ring of the MEIC and anti-parallel to the arc dipole magnetic fields, in order to take advantage of the preservation of polarization by the Sokolov-Ternov (S-T) effect. Longitudinal polarization is achieved at collision points by utilizing energy-independent universal spin rotators each of which consists of a set of solenoids and dipoles placed at the end of an arc. The equilibrium beam polarization and its lifetime depend on competition between the S-T effect and radiative depolarization. The latter must be suppressed by spin matching. This paper reports on investigations of polarization in the MEIC electron collider ring and a preliminary estimate of beam polarization from calculations using the code SLICK.