What Happens When a Photon Collides with a Proton in Glass?

[cragar]

say we have a slab of glass and an incoming photon , and it hits a proton in the slab of glass , will it get absorbed and re-emitted or will it oscillate the proton , what will happen ,
Any input will be much appreciated

 

[mathman]

I suggest looking at "QED" by Richard Feynman for a comprehensive view of photon matter interactions. Except for extremely high energy gamma rays, photons do not interact with individual protons.

 

[Bob S]

Below 1 or 2 MeV, The photons interact only with the electrons in the glass. The cross section for interaction with the protons is about 3.3 million times smaller than the interactions with the electrons. Please review this article from the Review of Particle Properties from the Lawrence Berkeley Lab on the passage of particles (including photons) through matter.

http://pdg.lbl.gov/2009/reviews/rpp2009-rev-passage-particles-matter.pdf

See in particular pages 22 to 28 and Figure 27.14, which shows the interaction of photons with the electrons in the glass. Above ~ 2 MeV, the photons begin to produce electron positron pairs by scattering off the protons.

Bob S

 

[cragar]

thanks for the responses

 

[sardar]

In this scenario, when a photon collides with a proton in a slab of glass, there are a few possible outcomes.

Firstly, the photon may be absorbed by the proton, causing it to gain energy and potentially be ejected from the glass. This process is known as photoelectric effect and is commonly observed in materials such as metals.

Alternatively, the photon may also interact with the electron cloud surrounding the proton, causing the proton to vibrate or oscillate. This is known as Compton scattering and is commonly observed in materials with lower atomic numbers, such as glass.

In some cases, the photon may also undergo total internal reflection within the glass, bouncing off the surface and continuing on its path without interacting with any particles.

The outcome of the collision will depend on various factors such as the energy and wavelength of the photon, the size and properties of the proton, and the composition of the glass. Ultimately, the collision between the photon and proton will result in a transfer of energy and potentially a change in the direction of the photon's path.