MEASUREMENTS AT LOW ENERGIES OF THE POLARIZATION-TRANSFER COEFFICIENTK-Y(Y') FOR THE REACTION H-3((P)OVER-RIGHT-ARROW,(N)OVER-RIGHT-ARROW)HE-3 AT 0-DEGREES

Measurements of the transverse polarization-transfer coefficient K-y(y ') for the reaction H-3((p) over right arrow, (n) over right arrow)He- 3 are reported for outgoing neutron energies of 1.94, 5.21, and 5.81 M eV. This reaction is important both as a source of polarized neutrons for nuclear-physics experiments, and as a test of theoretical descript ions of the nuclear four-body system. Comparison is made to previous m easurements, confirming that the H-3((p) over right arrow, (n) over ri ght arrow(3)He reaction can be used as a polarized neutron source with the polarization known to an accuracy of approximately 5%. Comparison to R-matrix theory suggests that the sign of the F-3(3) phase-shift p arameter is incorrect. Changing the sign of this parameter dramaticall y improves the agreement between theory and experiment.