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Compton Scattering, Pair Annihilation, and Pair Production in a Plasma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

V. Krishan
V. Krishan*
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 560034, India

Abstract

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The square of the four-momentum of a photon in vacuum is zero. However, in an unmagnetized plasma, it is equal to the square of the plasma frequency. Further, the electron-photon coupling vertex is modified in a plasma to include the effect of the plasma medium. I calculate the cross sections of three processes in a plasma—Compton scattering and electron-positron pair annihilation and production. At high plasma densities, the cross sections are found to change significantly. Such high plasma densities exist in several astrophysical sources.

Type
Part I: Talks
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 195: Highly Energetic Physical Processes and Mechanisms , 2000 , pp. 359 - 366
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2000 

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