Effective Compton Cross Section in Non-Degenerate High Temperature Media

Abstract

The effective compton cross section in a non-degenerate plasma($n\ll \{\frac{(kT/c{)}^2+2mkT}{h^2}{\}}^{{}^{3/2}}$) is investigated in a wide range of temperatures. The results show a decreasing behavior with temperature especially for $kT\gg m_e{c}^2$. The $may be important in phenomena like accretion discs or ultra-relativistic blast waves in GRB models, where the emitted radiation has to pass through a medium containing high energy electrons.

12 pages, 7 figures