Polarizing a stored proton beam by spin flip?

We discuss polarizing a proton beam in a storage ring, either by selective removal or by spin flip of the stored ions. Prompted by recent, conflicting calculations, we have carried out a measurement of the spin-flip cross section in low-energy electron-proton scattering. The experiment uses the cooling electron beam at COSY as an electron target. The measured cross sections are too small for making spin flip a viable tool in polarizing a stored beam. This invalidates a recent proposal to use co-moving polarized positrons to polarize a stored antiproton beam.