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Concept
Compton scattering
Summary
Compton scattering (also called the Compton effect) discovered by Arthur Holly Compton, is the scattering of a high frequency photon after an interaction with a charged particle, usually an electron. It results in a decrease in energy (increase in wavelength) of the photon (which may be an X-ray or gamma ray photon), called the Compton effect. Part of the energy of the photon is transferred to the recoiling particle. Inverse Compton scattering has the opposite effect, occurring when a high-energy charged particle transfers part of its energy to a photon, resulting in an increase in energy (decrease in wavelength) of the photon.
Compton scattering is commonly described as inelastic scattering, because the energy in the scattered photon is less than the energy of the incident photon. Energy of the incident photon is transferred to the electron (recoil) but only as kinetic energy in the laboratory frame. The electron gains no internal energy, respective masses remain the same, the mark of an elastic collision. From this perspective, Compton scattering could be considered elastic because the internal state of the electron does not change during the scattering process.
Whether Compton scattering is considered elastic or inelastic depends on the specific definition of these terms being used.
In Compton's original experiment (see Fig. 1), the energy of the X ray photon (≈17 keV) was significantly larger than the binding energy of the atomic electron, so the electrons could be treated as being free after scattering. The amount by which the light's wavelength changes is called the Compton shift. Although nucleus Compton scattering exists, Compton scattering usually refers to the interaction involving only the electrons of an atom. The Compton effect was observed by Arthur Holly Compton in 1923 at Washington University in St. Louis and further verified by his graduate student Y. H. Woo in the years following. Compton was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery.
Official source
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