Bethe stopping power theory for heavy-element targets and relativistic projectiles
- Department of Physics, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15282-0321, USA (United States)
An approach is described by which the Bethe theory for the stopping power of heavy-element targets is extended to treat the projectile in a fully relativistic way. The target electrons are treated semirelativistically by use of a modified Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation, also known as the Douglas-Kroll transformation. This approach allows results to be obtained that are valid to all orders in v{sup 2}/c{sup 2}, with v being the initial speed of the projectile. The contributions from both the longitudinal and transverse parts of the differential cross section are included, yielding a full expression for the stopping power of these systems. Our results show that the relativistic nature of the electrons in heavy-element targets leads to significant corrections which can be greater than 3% of Bethe's original results.
- OSTI ID:
- 20639919
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 68, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.68.012720; (c) 2003 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A Systematic Sequence of Relativistic Approximations
Direct observation of systematic deviations from the Bethe stopping theory for relativistic heavy ions