  The manifestation of pseudospin-symmetry in proton-nucleus scattering is
discussed. Constraints on the pseudospin-symmetry violating scattering
amplitude are given which require as input cross section and polarization data,
but no measurements of the spin rotation function. Application of these
constraints to p-58Ni and p-208Pb scattering data in the laboratory energy
range of 200 MeV to 800 MeV, reveals a significant violation of the symmetry at
lower energies and a weak one at higher energies. Using a schematic model
within the Dirac phenomenology, the role of the Coulomb potential in
proton-nucleus scattering with regard to pseudospin symmetry is studied. Our
results indicate that the existence of pseudospin-symmetry in proton-nucleus
scattering is questionable in the whole energy region considered and that the
violation of this symmetry stems from the long range nature of the Coulomb
interaction.
