Binding scale and recoil
ID: past-exam-of-the-optics-and-electrodynamics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/section-b/b5/binding-scale-and-recoil
Past exam of the optics and electrodynamics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 Section B B5 Binding scale and recoil by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
A distinct classical Thomson scattering window requires two separated scales:To remove that window, the binding frequency must be comparable with or greater than the Compton scattering recoil scale. Thus the formal condition for bound-electron scattering without a Thomson frequency window isUsing the stipulated approximate electron mass , and givesThe dimensions are . The inequality denotes a scale comparison, not a uniquely specified spring constant or a sharp transition.
There is also a physical limitation to the question's premise. Compton scattering does not begin discontinuously at ; recoil corrections grow as photon energy approaches the rest energy. If , the assumed nonrelativistic binding model is itself no longer reliable. The calculation therefore locates where no well-separated classical Thomson scattering range exists; it cannot establish a literal direct transition of a real strongly bound system using this oscillator equation alone.
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