Electron-atom bremsstrahlung: double differential cross section and polarization correlations

TL;DR

This paper presents a rigorous relativistic calculation of electron-atom bremsstrahlung, analyzing the double differential cross section and polarization correlations across various impact energies, with insights into screening effects and high-energy behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive relativistic approach using partial-wave Dirac wave functions to analyze bremsstrahlung and explores the connection to radiative recombination at high energies.

Findings

Detailed polarization correlation dependence on impact energy.

Screening effects significantly influence bremsstrahlung spectra.

High impact energies reveal specific polarization and cross section behaviors.

Abstract

The leading-order electron-atom bremsstrahlung is investigated within the rigorous relativistic approach based on the partial-wave representation of the Dirac wave functions in the external atomic field. Approximating the atomic target by an effective local potential, we calculate the double-differential cross section and the polarization correlations in a wide range of the impact energies. Connection between the bremsstrahlung at the hard-photon end point of the spectrum and the continuum-threshold limit of the radiative recombination is studied. A detailed analysis of the screening effect and the energy dependence of the polarization correlations is presented, with the main focus on the high impact energy region.