Compton Radius vs Compton Wavelength

what_are_electrons

A 1992 book dedicated to electrons writes about the Compton Radius of an electron. The Compton Wavelength for an electron is defined as 2.42x10(-10) cm, whereas this book defines the electron Compton radius as 0.386x10(-10) cm. What is the difference?

humanino

The Compton radius is a classical radius, calculated by analogy, by equating the electrostatic potential energy of a sphere of charge e with the rest energy of the electron.

The Compton wavelength is a natural quantity appearing in the formula for the wavelength shift occuring in the Compton process (scattering of light by electron).

http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/phys...ronRadius.html
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/phys...tonEffect.html

lanjarote

The ratio between both space magnitude are 6.2694, very close to 2*Pi.
Sure it's really 2*Pi

lanjarote

But wait: I think you mistaked the values
I have the for classical electron radious
Ro= e^2 /(mc^2)= 2.82E-13 cm.
and on the other hand, the compton wavelenght
LambdaC= h/mc= 24.3E-13 cm.
( m is the rest mass of the electron)



and the ratio is really LambdaC/Ro= 8.61 (dimensionless value)

willem

One easily ptoves by substituting known formula relations that lambda_C=(2pi/alpha)R_0, where alpha the fine structure constant.

willem

One easily proves by substituting known formula relations that lambda_C=(2pi/alpha)R_0, where alpha the fine structure constant.

Meir Achuz

Lanjarote's first post was right, the second has an arith error.
Its just that some books use h and some use hbar .