View Full Version : Does Pair Creation = Bremsstrahlung?
Buckeye
Dec19-05, 02:37 AM
In Chapter 6 of M. Kaku's book (QFT), he wrote (p184) "...by rotating the diagram around, we can convert bremsstrahlung into pair creation." Bremsstrahlung, as far as I know, involves atoms. Does this mean that when bremsstrahlung with >1.2 MeV strikes an atom we will get an electron and a positron?
dextercioby
Dec19-05, 04:26 AM
Try doing some reading from Lifschitz, Berestetskii & Pitaevskii's book on QED (volume #4 of Landau & Lifschitz' course on Theoretical Physics).
Daniel.
Meir Achuz
Dec20-05, 03:50 PM
In Chapter 6 of M. Kaku's book (QFT), he wrote (p184) "...by rotating the diagram around, we can convert bremsstrahlung into pair creation." Bremsstrahlung, as far as I know, involves atoms. Does this mean that when bremsstrahlung with >1.2 MeV strikes an atom we will get an electron and a positron?
Kaku meant that the FDs for brem and for pair prod have the same topology. What he meant by "rotate" is to change the physics of which particles come in and go out. Physically, brem and pp are very different.
In brem: e+proton--> e+proton+gamma.
In pp: gamma + proton--> proton + e + positron.
The two FDs have the same lines, just in different orders.
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