Welcome

There is currently great interest in the possibility of producing high intensity polarised antiproton beams in storage rings.  The most promising techniques at present under consideration use the spin filter or spin transfer processes.  The first process involves the interaction of an antiproton beam with an internal polarised proton target and depends on the difference in proton – antiproton interaction cross sections for two different antiproton spin directions. The second technique uses the transfer of spin between antiprotons and polarised electrons either in the form of bound electrons in a hydrogen target or as polarised free electrons in a collinear beam.  There has also been a revival of interest in the possibility of generating polarised antiproton beams via channelling processes in bent single crystals. The only direct experimental data on any of these techniques comes from a proof of principle experiment carried at the Heidelberg TSR with a proton beam and using a target containing both polarised protons and polarised electrons. A more detailed historical background to polarised antiproton beam development programme is available on the project history page. In this workshop we propose to study and review the analytic theoretical models which have been developed for these techniques with particular reference to the constraints that arise in storage ring environments. The overall aim is to produce a detailed summary of the current theoretical scene and suggest what further theoretical and experimental studies are required before a practical design for a polarised antiproton facility can be made.