Spin in Compton scattering with pronounced polarization dynamics

TL;DR

This paper theoretically analyzes a specific Compton scattering setup where electron spin and photon polarization undergo significant changes, revealing non-conservation of angular momentum and exploring entanglement generation and polarization dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scattering configuration with pronounced polarization dynamics and investigates angular momentum non-conservation and entanglement in this context.

Findings

Angular momentum is not conserved in the considered scattering process.

The setup can generate entanglement between electron spin and photon polarization.

The differential cross section and polarization parameters depend on scattering angle.

Abstract

We theoretically investigate a scattering configuration in Compton scattering, in which the orientation of the electron spin is reversed and simultaneously, the photon polarization changes from linear polarization into circular polarization. The intrinsic angular momentum of electron and photon are computed along the coincident propagation direction of the incoming and outgoing photon. We find that this intrinsic angular momentum is not conserved in the considered scattering process. We also discuss the generation of entanglement for the considered scattering setup and present an angle dependent investigation of the corresponding differential cross section, Stokes parameters and spin expectation.