Parity violation in charged-particle resonance reactions

Parity nonconservation (PNC) measurements utilizing charged-particle resonance reactions are proposed. PNC observables have been calculated for over 300 resonance pairs (with the same angular momentum and opposite parity) in five s-d shell nuclei. Detailed numerical results are presented for the longitudinal analyzing powers in the 31P(p searrow,α0) reaction. There is strong dependence on energy, angle, and resonance parameters. A figure of merit that includes both the relative enhancement of the parity violation and the cross section is used to identify the most promising resonances for study. A proposed detector design and experimental procedure are described. These measurements should provide information on the weak spreading width (the effective nucleon-nucleus weak interaction) in light nuclei. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society