What should be measured in deuteron breakup with polarized proton target

At present, two different approaches are used for interpretation of inclusive data on deuteron breakup with emission of protons-fragments at zero degree by hadrons. According to one of them the observed characteristics of this reaction (cross sections, polarization observables) are determined by the reaction mechanism and the deuteron structure at short distances (in the commonly accepted sense) plays a minor role. According to the other approach it is the deuteron structure at short distances which determines the observed trend of the data. Neither of these approaches can describe the data even qualitatively in the whole investigated region of kinematical variables, having particular success for some narrow region corresponding to long distances. Installation of the polarized proton target at LHE (Laboratory of High Energies) JINR opens an opportunity to perform a rather simple experiment which could discriminate one of these completing approaches. The idea of this experiment is discussed in the present paper. Measurement of the observable suggested here is a particular example of a general problem of a search for spin correlations in inelastic reactions between particles separated well in 4-velocity or rapidity spaces. In our particular case correlations of spin degrees of freedom between particles, one of which is in the target fragmentation region and the other belongs to the projectile fragmentation region, are discussed. 10 refs., 1 fig