Construct · 1 fields · 3 citations

bremsstrahlung: a standalone construct

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bremsstrahlung1 CONSTRUCTBremsstrahlungKRAMERS · BRAKING RAD.

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Physics

Radiation emitted when a charged particle is decelerated in a field

Bremsstrahlung, German for braking radiation, is the electromagnetic radiation a charged particle emits when it is slowed or deflected by the electric field of another charge, most often an atomic nucleus. Hendrik A. Kramers (1923) gave the first quantitative theory of the process for the continuous X-ray spectrum, showing how an electron braking in the field of a nucleus radiates a smooth band of energies rather than sharp lines. Hans Bethe and Walter Heitler (1934) then derived the relativistic quantum-mechanical theory, computing the probability, called the cross-section, that a fast electron loses energy to such radiation, and that treatment remains the foundation of the modern account. The construct is distinctive because it names one physical mechanism, radiation from the deceleration of a charge, that produces the continuous X-ray background of medical and industrial tubes, dominates the energy loss of high-energy electrons passing through matter, and sets the radiation length that governs how electromagnetic showers develop in detectors and in the atmosphere.[1][2][3]

Unit
Emitted electromagnetic radiation with a continuous energy spectrum, quantified as a cross-section per unit photon energy
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Inferred from the continuous X-ray or gamma spectrum by resolving the emitted photon-energy distribution and comparing it with computed cross-sections such as the Bethe-Heitler and Koch-Motz formulae

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Nearby constructs

radiation3 fields · 3 citationsjingle · one word, three physical and biological constructsacceleration4 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, four constructsopacity5 fields · 8 citationsjingle · one word, five constructs

References

  1. Kramers, H. A. (1923). On the theory of X-ray absorption and of the continuous X-ray spectrum. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 46(275), 836–871. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786442308565244
  2. Bethe, H., & Heitler, W. (1934). On the stopping of fast particles and on the creation of positive electrons. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, 146(856), 83–112. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1934.0140
  3. Koch, H. W., & Motz, J. W. (1959). Bremsstrahlung cross-section formulas and related data. Reviews of Modern Physics, 31(4), 920–955. https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.31.920

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