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The incoming gamma ray effectively knocks one or more neutrons, protons, or an alpha particle out of the nucleus. [1] The reactions are called (γ,n), (γ,p), and (γ,α), respectively. Photodisintegration is endothermic (energy absorbing) for atomic nuclei lighter than iron and sometimes exothermic (energy releasing) for atomic nuclei heavier ...
It can then decay to a lower energy state by emitting a gamma ray photon, in a process called gamma decay. The emission of a gamma ray from an excited nucleus typically requires only 10 −12 seconds. Gamma decay may also follow nuclear reactions such as neutron capture, nuclear fission, or nuclear fusion.
Gamma rays are photons, whose absorption cannot be described by LET. When a gamma quantum passes through matter, it may be absorbed in a single process (photoelectric effect, Compton effect or pair production), or it continues unchanged on its path. (Only in the case of the Compton effect, another gamma quantum of lower energy proceeds).
If the lost recoil energy is small compared with the energy linewidth of the nuclear transition, then the gamma-ray energy still corresponds to the energy of the nuclear transition and the gamma ray can be absorbed by a second atom of the same type as the first. This emission and subsequent absorption is called resonant fluorescence. Additional ...
A gamma-ray burst in the Milky Way, if close enough to Earth and beamed toward it, could have significant effects on the biosphere. The absorption of radiation in the atmosphere would cause photodissociation of nitrogen, generating nitric oxide that would act as a catalyst to destroy ozone. [22] The atmospheric photodissociation
In nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta ray (fast energetic electron or positron) and a neutrino are emitted from an atomic nucleus. Electron capture is sometimes called inverse beta decay, though this term usually refers to the interaction of an electron antineutrino with a proton. [2]
A gamma ray cross section is a measure of the probability that a gamma ray interacts with matter. The total cross section of gamma ray interactions is composed of several independent processes: photoelectric effect, Compton (incoherent) scattering, electron-positron pair production in the nucleus field and electron-positron pair production in the electron field (triplet production).
An overview of absorption of electromagnetic radiation.This example shows the general principle using visible light as a specific example. A white light source—emitting light of multiple wavelengths—is focused on a sample (the pairs of complementary colors are indicated by the yellow dotted lines).