The polarization parameter in π − p elastic scattering has been measured in the backward angular region at an incident momentum of 6 GeV/ c . The measurements cover the range of four momentum transfer u = 0 to −1 (GeV/ c ) 2 , and were obtained with a high intensity pion beam, a butanol polarized proton target, and arrays of scintillation counter hodoscopes. The polarization is different from zero, in contradiction to the prediction of the naive one trajectory Regge-exchange model. It increases positively with the four-momentum transfer u, reaching a maximum of about 0.4 at u ≈ −0.3 (GeV/c)2. It then decreases and becomes slightly negative beyond u ≈ −0.5 (GeV/c)2. A variety of baryon exchange models are briefly reviewed and none are found to be in complete agreement with all the experimental data.
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