Bending the Rules (Gamma ray lenses)

[Fallen-S36]

http://news.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_article_l/public/article_images/sn-gammarays.jpg?itok=vYTMw8My Researchers at Institut Laue–Langevin have found a way to bend gamma rays.

Gamma ray lenses, which theory had suggested were impossible, could be made from heavy elements such as gold.

The bending in the group's experiment isn't much—about a millionth of a degree, which corresponds to a refractive index of about 1.000000001. However, it could be boosted using lenses made of materials with larger nuclei such as gold, which should contain more virtual electron-positron pairs. With some refinement, gamma-ray lenses could be made to focus beams of a specific energy.

 

[nasu]

What theory suggests that is impossible to have refraction of x-rays?

 

[Drakkith]

What theory suggests that is impossible to have refraction of x-rays?

High-energy x-rays and gamma rays are effectively impossible to focus using a lens. Currently they rely on reflection of these rays off of long, concentric metal or ceramic grazing incident mirrors, or on coded apertures, which are flat grills that way less than mirrors, but require lots of post-processing to get an image.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_telescope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolter_telescope

 

[nasu]

High-energy x-rays and gamma rays are effectively impossible to focus using a lens. Currently they rely on reflection of these rays off of long, concentric metal or ceramic grazing incident mirrors, or on coded apertures, which are flat grills that way less than mirrors, but require lots of post-processing to get an image.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_telescope
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolter_telescope

I know this. My problem is with a theoretical impossibility. Or breaking the rules, as the OP suggest.

 

[mfb]

There is no theoretical impossibility. If you extend the usual influence to gamma rays, the deflection angles are too small to be practical. The proposed pair creation mechanism seems to enhance the deflection a lot.