New measurements of the transverse beam asymmetry for elastic electron scattering from selected nuclei

Here we have measured the beam-normal single-spin asymmetry A{sub n} in the elastic scatteringof 1-3 GeV transversely polarized electrons from 1H and for the first time from 4He, 12C, and 208Pb. For 1H, 4He and 12C, the measurements are in agreement with calculations that relate An to the imaginary part of the two-photon exchange amplitude including inelastic intermediate states. Surprisingly, the 208Pb result is significantly smaller than the corresponding prediction using the same formalism. Our results suggest that a systematic set of new An measurements might emerge as a new and sensitive probe of the structure of heavy nuclei.