Nuclear parity violation beyond the two-state approximation: Criteria for quantitative studies above neutron threshold

Issues involved in quantifying polarised neutron transmission studies of nuclear parity violation (PV) in the isolated resonance regime are considered. The adaptation of the appropriate theoretical tool (the on-resonance ensemble method) to PV studies with spin non-zero targets is discussed. An approximate treatment utilising all the spectroscopic information available in practice is presented. The consequences of the restricted size of data samples for the reliable extraction of a PV spreading width are explored. A criterion for the minimum number of independent measurements required with a given target is established, and a simple figure of merit for the selection of targets deduced. The implications for other reaction studies of PV are addressed. (orig.)