What determines the Compton scattering angle?

[carllacan]

Hi.

I've been reading about Compton scattering and I don't understand what determines the angle at which the electron and photon are scattered. Is it a quantum process, and therefore the value of the angle is "random"? If it is a quantum process, is there any theory that gives the probability distribution for this angle?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Orodruin]

Is it a quantum process, and therefore the value of the angle is "random"? If it is a quantum process, is there any theory that gives the probability distribution for this angle?

Yes and yes.

More precisely, the relevant theory is quantum electrodynamics (QED).

 

[jtbell]

The angular probability distribution for Compton scattering is basically given by the Klein-Nishina formula.