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Thomson scattering is a model for the effect of electromagnetic fields on electrons when the field energy is much less than the rest mass of the electron .In the model the electric field of the incident wave accelerates the charged particle, causing it, in turn, to emit radiation at the same frequency as the incident wave, and thus the wave is scattered.
He encouraged J. Arnold Crowther to experiment with beta scattering through thin foils [28] and, in 1910, Thomson produced a new theory of beta scattering. [29] The two innovations in this paper was the introduction of scattering from the positive sphere of the atom and analysis that multiple or compound scattering was critical to the final ...
The formula describes both the Thomson scattering of low energy photons (e.g. visible light) and the Compton scattering of high energy photons (e.g. x-rays and gamma-rays), showing that the total cross section and expected deflection angle decrease with increasing photon energy.
Thomson scattering is the classical elastic quantitative interpretation of the scattering process, [26] and this can be seen to happen with lower, mid-energy, photons. The classical theory of an electromagnetic wave scattered by charged particles, cannot explain low intensity shifts in wavelength.
In mathematical physics, scattering theory is a framework for studying and understanding the interaction or scattering of solutions to partial differential equations. In acoustics , the differential equation is the wave equation , and scattering studies how its solutions, the sound waves , scatter from solid objects or propagate through non ...
Thomson's model was consistent with the experimental evidence available at the time. Thomson studied beta particle scattering which showed small angle deflections modelled as interactions of the particle with many atoms in succession. Each interaction of the particle with the electrons of the atom and the positive background sphere would lead ...
Scattering of laser light from the electrons in a plasma is known as Thomson scattering. The electron temperature can be determined very reliably from the Doppler broadening of the laser line. The electron density can be determined from the intensity of the scattered light, but a careful absolute calibration is required.
This plasma was effectively opaque to electromagnetic radiation due to Thomson scattering by free electrons, as the mean free path each photon could travel before encountering an electron was very short. This is the current state of the interior of the Sun.