Relativistic polarization analysis of Rayleigh scattering by atomic hydrogen

Abstract

A relativistic analysis of the polarization properties of light elastically scattered by atomic hydrogen is performed, based on the Dirac equation and second order perturbation theory. The relativistic atomic states used for the calculations are obtained by making use of the finite basis set method and expressed in terms of $B$ splines and $B$ polynomials. We introduce two experimental scenarios in which the light is circularly and linearly polarized, respectively. For each of these scenarios, the polarization-dependent angular distribution and the degrees of circular and linear polarization of the scattered light are investigated as a function of scattering angle and photon energy. Analytical expressions are derived for the polarization-dependent angular distribution which can be used for scattering by both hydrogenic as well as many-electron systems. Detailed computations are performed for Rayleigh scattering by atomic hydrogen within the incident photon energy range 0.5 to 10 keV. Particular attention is paid to the effects that arise from higher (nondipole) terms in the expansion of the electron-photon interaction.

8 pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (13)

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• Quantum interference effects in laser spectroscopy of muonic hydrogen, deuterium, and helium-3
• Rayleigh scattering of twisted light by hydrogenlike ions
• Many-electron effects on the x-ray Rayleigh scattering by highly charged He-like ions
• Quantum interference shifts in laser spectroscopy with elliptical polarization
• Parametrization of the angular correlation and degree of linear polarization in two-photon decays of hydrogen-like ions
• Quantum interference in laser spectroscopy of highly charged lithiumlike ions
• Angular and polarization analysis for two-photon decay of 2s hyperfine states of hydrogenlike Uranium
• Spin effects probed by Rayleigh X-ray scattering off hydrogenic ions
• Rayleigh scattering of a linearly polarized light: scenario of the complete experiment
• Analytical evaluation of atomic form factors: application to Rayleigh scattering
• Two-photon processes based on quantum commutators