MPHY 35000

Interactions of Radiation with Matter

Discussion Week 1
(JP, Rayner, Sagada)

1. Show that the differential Klein-Nishina (K-N) cross section (Eq. 1) reduces to the
Thomson cross section (Eq. 2). What condition must exist for this reduction to occur? What
are the units of the K-N cross section?
%
𝑑 ! 𝜎 𝑟$% ℎ𝜈′ ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈′ (1)
= ' + ' + − 𝑠𝑖𝑛% 𝜙+
𝑑Ω# 2 ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈′ ℎ𝜈
𝑑 ! 𝜎$ 𝑟$% (2)
= (1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 % 𝜙)
𝑑Ω# 2

For this reduction to occur, we have to assume Thomson conditions, meaning ℎ𝜈 & = ℎ𝜈.
We then have the following:
𝑑 ! 𝜎 𝑟$% ℎ𝜈 % ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈 𝑟$% %
= 7 8 7 + − 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜙8 = 1 (1 + 1 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛% 𝜙)
%
𝑑Ω# 2 ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈 ℎ𝜈 2
%
𝑟$ % % % %
𝑟$% %
𝑑 ! 𝜎$
= 1 (1 + (𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜙 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜙) − 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜙) = (1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜙) =
2 2 𝑑Ω#
In units of cm2sr-1 per electron. ro is the classical electron radius.
2. Write out and describe the factors (terms) of the Klein-Nishina energy transfer cross section.
𝑑 ! 𝜎'( 𝑑 ! 𝜎 𝑇 𝑑 ! 𝜎 ℎ𝜈 − ℎ𝜈 &
= ∙ = ∙ [𝑐𝑚% 𝑠𝑟 )* 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛], 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
𝑑Ω# 𝑑Ω# ℎ𝜈 𝑑Ω# ℎ𝜈
𝒅 𝒆 𝝈𝒕𝒓
𝒅𝛀𝝓
is the fraction of incident energy fluence transferred to recoil electrons at an angle 𝜙.
𝒅 𝒆 𝝈
𝒅𝛀𝝓
is the fraction of incident photons (large number) that undergo a Compton scattering event
scattering through a resultant solid angle.
𝑻
𝒉𝝂
is the fraction of incident photon energy transferred to electrons of these Compton events.

3. Explain the divergence and convergence seen in the plot below.

The divergence in the plot is due to the fact

that at low incident photon energies,
Compton scattering becomes Thomson
scattering. There is no energy transfer at low
energies meaning the recoil electron gets
nothing.

The convergence occurs because at higher

incident photon energies, the fraction of
energy transferred is getting higher and
higher.
 4. What is the electron energy (T) for the Compton and Photoelectric interactions?
%(56)& >
Compton: 𝑇 = ℎ𝜈 − ℎ𝜈′, 𝑇123 = 𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑒 0°, 𝑇I = ℎ𝜈 J) '(K
%5689.;**<!= >'(

Photoelectric: 𝑇 = ℎ𝜈 − 𝐸? , 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐸? 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

5. Draw a diagram for the Photoelectric effect. Describe the interaction.

In the Photoelectric effect, a photon is absorbed by
an atom which ejects a photoelectron with kinetic
energy 𝑇 = ℎ𝜐 − 𝐸? , where ℎ𝜐 is the photon’s
energy and 𝐸? is the binding energy of the
photoelectron. The atom will then emit a
characteristic x-ray or Auger electron.

6. Describe the plots below.

@ @
The plots show the mass attenuation coefficients A for lead (left) and carbon. A describes the
fraction of photons removed or attenuated from an x-ray beam. Removal of these photons is
>
through four possible interactions whose contributions are also shown in the plots: A for Compton
B C >*
contributions, A for photoelectric, A for pair production, and A
for Rayleigh (coherent) scattering.
 MPHY 35000
Interactions of Radiation with Matter
Discussion Week 1
(Chris & Tabitha)

1. What are the mechanisms for energy accounting in Photoelectric events? (Hint: there are 2)
Identify which is occurring in the left and right images below. What is the line pointed away
from the nucleus representing in the left image and what is its corresponding energy? How
about in the right image?

When an electron is removed from an inner atomic shell by the Photoelectric process, the
resulting vacancy is promptly filled by another electron falling from a less tightly bound shell.
For K- and L-shell vacancies, this transition is sometimes accompanied by the emission of a
fluorescence x-ray of quantum energy ℎ𝜈D = (𝐸? )D − (𝐸? )E equal to the difference in
potential energy between the donor and recipient levels. This process is shown in the left
image.

Another possible outcome of the Photoelectric event to conserve energy is the ejection of an
Auger electron shown in the right image. The kinetic energy of the Auger electron is 𝑇 =
(𝐸? )D − (𝐸? )E − (𝐸? )< .

2. In the figure below, what is Yi ? What is Pi ?

Yi is the fluorescence yield, or the probability of a

fluorescent x-ray being emitted when an i-shell vacancy is
filled.

Pi is the fraction of interactions that occur in the i-shell for

photons of energy (𝐸? )F)* > ℎ𝜈 > (𝐸? )F
3. What is the difference between coherent and incoherent scattering?
Coherent scattering is elastic meaning that there is no energy transferred to the electron. This is
Rayleigh scattering where the incident photon interacts with the atom as a whole.

Incoherent scattering refers to the Compton scattering process when electron binding energies
are considered.

4. Describe the plot below.

The figure plots the differential Klein-Nishina

G >
cross section (GH) ) as a function of scattered
+
photon angle. The plot shows the angular
distribution, per unit solid angle, of the scattered
photons resulting from the Compton interaction.

Remember that the K-N differential cross section

is the fraction of a large number of incident
photons that will undergo Compton scattering
such that the scattered photon penetrates a unit
of solid angle within an annulus at angle 𝜙.

5. What is the Photoelectric mass energy transfer coefficient for ℎ𝜈 > (𝐸? )D ? For (𝐸? )D >
ℎ𝜈 > (𝐸? )E ? (Hint: the mean energy carried away from the atom by K-fluorescence x-rays
per Photoelectric interaction is given by 𝑃D 𝑌D IIIII
ℎ𝜈D ).
B'( B !I!(JK F1L2('!G '$ !M!N'($IO B 56)!I!(JK $P PMQ$(!ON!IN! 3)(2KO
For ℎ𝜈 > (𝐸? )D : A A
= S 56
T = AS 56
T=
B 56){S, T, UUUUUU
56, 8(*)S, )S- T- UUUUU
56- }
A
S 56
T

For (𝐸? )D > ℎ𝜈 > (𝐸? )E , we are only considering the L shell and there are not sufficient
energies to invoke the K shell, so the energy transfer cross section is as follows:
B'( B 56)S- T- UUUUU
56-
A
= AS 56
T.

> >* B
6. Write out the Z dependencies for the following: A , A
, A.
> * */% > X
A
∝ J56K ; A = J Y. K ∙ 𝑍 ∙ ! 𝜎 ∝
X 𝑍 9 for Compton meaning there is only a slight decrease in
cross section with increasing Z. [cm2/g]
>* Z
A
∝ (56)& [cm2/g]
B Z [
X J K [cm2/g]
∝
A 56