Generalized Compton Effect

RAUL T. MAINARDI

Australia

Otro; Bulletin of the International Radiation Physics Society; 2009

International Radiation Physics Society

The Compton effect equations were derived and verified experimentally in 1922 when analyzing the collision of x-ray photons, with energies around several kilo electron volts (keV), and conduction electrons with energies of a few electron volts (eV). For many years this was considered to be the only case of interest; that is, where the incident energy of the photons exceeded that of the electrons. It was during the second half of the last century that the so called "inverse Compton effect", involving the collision of relativistic electrons with laser light photons, was developed. It is interesting to regard both situations above as limiting cases of a unique equation which is derived from the relativistic equations for energy and momentum conservation in their general form. The generalized Compton effect is thus appropriate for describing the collision of a photon and an electron (or, for that matter with any charged particle) regardless of their energies.