Compton scattering and the spin structure of the nucleon at low energies

We analyze polarized Compton scattering which provides information on the spin-structure of the nucleon. For scattering processes with photon energies up to 100 MeV the spin-structure dependence can be encoded into four independent parameters-the so-called spin-polarizabilities gamma(i), i = 1,...,4, of the nucleon, which we calculate within the framework of the "small scale expansion" in SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory. Specific application is made to "forward" and "backward" spin-polarizabilities.