Impact-parameter dependence of the relativistic photoeffect and other high-energy photoprocesses
- 31 May 2001
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review A
- Vol. 64 (1), 012703
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.64.012703
Abstract
The resolution in space of processes involving high-energy photons incident on atoms or bare atomic nuclei is investigated. A simple analysis, based on momentum transfer, gives first indications of the length scale being defined by the Compton wavelength of the electron for both the photoeffect and electron-positron pair creation with the electron bound to the atomic nucleus. Since the simple method of converting a momentum transfer q to a distance of has potential pitfalls, we continue with a detailed wave-packet study. This study, which is undertaken for the case of the photoeffect, involves the incidence of a photon localized in space and time on a hydrogenlike atom. The wave-packet approach confirms the Compton wavelength, and not the extent of the atomic state, to be the decisive measure for photon energies in excess of the electron rest energy In addition, it provides a direct and detailed picture of the impact-parameter dependence of the process. As an introduction to the wave-packet study, we compare calculations based on a plane-wave representation of the unbound lepton to lowest-order perturbative calculations.
Keywords
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