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Concept
Synchrotron radiation
Summary
Synchrotron radiation (also known as magnetobremsstrahlung radiation) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity (a ⊥ v). It is produced artificially in some types of particle accelerators or naturally by fast electrons moving through magnetic fields. The radiation produced in this way has a characteristic polarization, and the frequencies generated can range over a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Synchrotron radiation is similar to bremsstrahlung radiation, which is emitted by a charged particle when the acceleration is parallel to the direction of motion. The general term for radiation emitted by particles in a magnetic field is gyromagnetic radiation, for which synchrotron radiation is the ultra-relativistic special case. Radiation emitted by charged particles moving non-relativistically in a magnetic field is called cyclotron emission. For particles in the mildly relativistic range (≈85% of the speed of light), the emission is termed gyro-synchrotron radiation.
In astrophysics, synchrotron emission occurs, for instance, due to ultra-relativistic motion of a charged particle around a black hole. When the source follows a circular geodesic around the black hole, the synchrotron radiation occurs for orbits close to the photosphere where the motion is in the ultra-relativistic regime.
Synchrotron radiation was first observed by technician Floyd Haber, on April 24, 1947, at the 70 MeV electron synchrotron of the General Electric research laboratory in Schenectady, New York. While this was not the first synchrotron built, it was the first with a transparent vacuum tube, allowing the radiation to be directly observed.
As recounted by Herbert Pollock:
On April 24, Langmuir and I were running the machine and as usual were trying to push the electron gun and its associated pulse transformer to the limit. Some intermittent sparking had occurred and we asked the technician to observe with a mirror around the protective concrete wall.
Official source
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