A new method to determine the spin tune is described and tested. In an ideal planar magnetic ring, the spin tune-defined as the number of spin precessions per turn-is given by nu(s) = gamma G (gamma is the Lorentz factor, G the gyromagnetic anomaly). At 970 MeV/c, the deuteron spins coherently process at a frequency of approximate to 120 kHz in the Cooler Synchrotron COSY. The spin tune is deduced from the up-down asymmetry of deuteron-carbon scattering. In a time interval of 2.6 s, the spin tune was determined with a precision of the order 10(-8), and to 1 x 10(-10) for a continuous 100 s accelerator cycle. This renders the presented method a new precision tool for accelerator physics; controlling the spin motion of particles to high precision is mandatory, in particular, for the measurement of electric dipole moments of charged particles in a storage ring.
