COMPTON EFFECT

1. Amplitude
The process to be considered is,
e− + γ → e− + γ
According to the QED Feynman rules, the first contributions to the amplitude for this
process correspond to the following two diagrams,

their contribution is given by,

(1.1)  
2 0 0 0 0 i 0 0 i 0 0
τf i = −2e m ū(p , s ) 6  (k ) 6 (k) u(p, s) + ū(p , s ) 6 (k) 6  (k )u(p, s)
6 p+ 6 k − m 6 p− 6 k 0 − m
2
q −e comes from the −ie for each vertex, the factor 2m comes from the normal-
the factor
m
ization ω(p) for the incident and outgoing e− wave functions which differ from the scalar
factors assumed in [1] 1. The contractions corresponding to the internal fermion lines are,
i 6 p+ 6 k + m 6 p+ 6 k + m
=i 2 2
=i
6 p+ 6 k − m (p + k) − m 2k · p
0
i 6 p− 6 k + m 6 p− 6 k 0 + m
(1.4) = i = i
6 p− 6 k 0 − m (p − k 0 )2 − m2 −2k 0 · p
where in the last equalities the fact that the fermions and photons are on-shell was
employed(k 2 = k 02 = 0 = p2 − m2 ). Expression (1.1) is written in matrix notation.
1The normalizations and asignation of factors to the amplitude and the cross section formula are the
ones of reference [1]. In the amplitude, this involves extracting a factor,
1
(1.2) 3p
(2π) 2 2ω(p)
for each incoming or outgoing particle. Such factor is computed for a scalar field, for the case of a Dirac
field that factor is replaced by,
r
1 m
(1.3) 3
(2π) 2 ω(p)
√
Multiplying (1.2) by 2m, gives (1.3), therefore since two external fermion particles are involved in this
process a factor 2m has been included in the expression for the amplitude.
1
 COMPTON EFFECT 2

The ordering in the matrix factors comes from the the asignation of indices in the matrix
factor associated for each vertex, this is,

−ie(γµ )αβ

replacing (1.4) in (1.1) leads to,

6 p− 6 k 0 + m 0 0
 
2 0 0 0 0 6 p+ 6 k + m 0 0
τf i = −2ie m ū(p , s ) 6  (k ) 6 (k) u(p, s) + ū(p , s ) 6 (k) 6  (k )u(p, s)
2k · p −2k 0 · p
next it is noted that,
(6 p + m) 6 (k)u(p, s) = [2p · − 6 (6 p − m)]u(p, s) = 2p · (k) u(p, s)
(6 p + m) 6  0 (k)u(p, s) = 2p · (k 0 ) u(p, s)
where it was employed that,
6 a 6 b = 2a · b− 6 b 6 a , (6 p − m)u(p, s) = 0
this leads to,
(−2p · 0 + 6 k 0 6 0 )
 
2 0 0 0 (2p · + 6 k 6 )
0
τf i = −2e mū(p , s ) 6  (k ) + 6 (k) u(p, s)
2k · p 2k 0 · p
going to the rest frame of the initial electron (p = (m, 0, 0, 0)) and using that the physical
photon polarizations are purely spatial, leads to,
 = (0, ) , 0 = (0, 0 ) ⇒ p ·  = 0 = p · 0
thus2,
6 0 6 k 6  6  6 k 0 6 0
 
2 0 0
τf i = −2e mū(p , s ) + 0 u(p, s)
2k · p 2k · p
this last expression is of the form,
τf i = ū(p0 , s0 )Au(p, s)
with,
6 0 6 k 6  6  6 k 0 6 0
 
2
A = −2e m + 0
2k · p 2k · p
thus,
τf∗i = u(p, s)† A† γ 0 u(p0 , s0 ) = ū(p, s)Āu(p0 , s0 ) , Ā = γ 0 Aγ 0
leading to,
|τf i |2 = ū(p0 , s0 )Au(p, s)ū(p, s)Āu(p0 , s0 )
2It is remarkable that this amplitude is invariant under the interchange,
(, k) ↔ (0 , −k 0 )
which corresponds to the interchange of an antiparticle(recall that a photon and its antiparticle coincide)
in the final state with a particle in the inital state with inversion of the momenta. This is a particular case
of a symmetry called crossing symmetry. It is a consequence of the reduction formulae and the analiticity
of the S-matrix. In general this symmetry relates amplitudes which differ by the interchange of a particle
in the initial state to an antiparticle in the final state,with a corresponding sign change in the momenta.
 COMPTON EFFECT 3

Next, in order to make the calculation simpler, the case where the initial electron has
equal probability to be up or down is considered. In addition consideration is restricted to
processes where the final electron spin is not measured. This means that an average over
inital electron spin and a summation over final electron spin are to be done. Noting that,

X 6p + m X 6 p0 + m
u(p, s)ū(p, s) = , u(p0 , s0 )ū(p0 , s0 ) =
s
2m s0
2m

leads to,

1X 1X
|τf i |2 = ū(p0 , s0 )Au(p, s)ū(p, s)Āu(p0 , s0 )
2 s,s0 2 s,s0
 0 
1 6p + m 6p + m
= Tr A Ā
2 2m 2m
 0
6p + m 6 0 6 6k 6 6 0 6k 0 6p + m 6k 6 6 0 6k 0 6 0 6
   
4 2
= 2e m T r + +
2m 2k · p 2k 0 · p 2m 2k · p 2k 0 · p
e4
 
T1 T2 T3 + T4
(1.5) = + 0 +
8 (k · p) 2 (k · p)2 (k · p)(k 0 · p)

where the traces T1 , T2 , T3 , T4 are given by,

T1 = T r[(6 p0 + m) 6  0 6  6 k(6 p + m) 6 k 6  6  0 ]
T2 = T r[(6 p0 + m) 6  6  0 6 k 0 (6 p + m) 6 k 0 6  0 6 ]
T3 = T r[(6 p0 + m) 6  0 6  6 k(6 p + m) 6 k 0 6  0 6 ]
T4 = T r[(6 p0 + m) 6  6  0 6 k 0 (6 p + m) 6 k 6  6  0 ]

interchanging  ↔ 0 and k ↔ k 0 sends T1 → T2 , thus it suffices to calculate only one of

this two traces. In addition T3 = T4 . This can be shown by first noting that CtT3 C −1 = t4
, where t3 and t4 are the arguments of the corresponding traces T3 and T4 . The proof is
completed using the ciclic property of the trace and inserting identities in the form CC −1 .
In order to show the procedure employed in calculating these traces T1 is computed,

T1 = T r[(6 p0 + m) 6  0 6  6 k(6 p + m) 6 k 6  6  0 ]
= T r[(6 p0 + m) 6  0 6  6 k 6 p 6 k 6  6  0 ]
= 2p · k T r[(6 p0 + m) 6  0 6  6 k 6  6 0 ]
= 2p · k T r[(6 p0 + m) 6  0 6 k 6 0 ]
= 2p · k T r[6 p0 6  0 6 k 6 0 ]
= 2p · k T r[6 p0 (2k · 0 − 6 k 6 0 ) 6 0 ]
= 2p · k (20 · k T r[6 p0 6 0 ] + T r[6 p0 6 k])
= 8p · k (p0 · k + 2(k · 0 )(p0 · 0 ))
 COMPTON EFFECT 4

where the following identities has been employed,

6k 6k = k2 = 0
6p 6k = 2p · k− 6 k 6 p
6 6k = 2 · k− 6 k 6  = − 6 k 6 
6 6 =  ·  = −1 =6 0 6 0
0 0
T r[6 p 6  ] = 4p0 · 0
T r[6 p0 6 k] = 4p0 · k
The calculation of T3 is left to the reader. The results for the four traces are,
T1 = 8p · k (p0 · k + 2(k · 0 )(p0 · 0 ))
T2 = 8p · k 0 (p0 · k 0 + 2(k 0 · )(p0 · ))
T3 = 8(p · k)(p · k 0 )[2( · 0 )2 − 1] − 8(k · 0 )2 (k 0 · p) + 8(k 0 · )2 (k · p) = T4
replacing in (1.5) leads to,
e4 8 (p0 · k + 2(k · 0 )(p0 · 0 )) 8 (p0 · k 0 + 2(k 0 · )(p0 · ))

1X 2
|τf i | = +
2 s,s0 8 (k · p) (k 0 · p)
16(k · 0 )2 16(k 0 · )2

0 2
(1.6) 16[2( ·  ) − 1] − −
k·p k0 · p
energy momentum conservation and orthogonality(both 3 and 4-dimensional) of the photon
momentums with the corresponding polarization vectors leads to the following kinematical
identities,
(p0 + k 0 ) ·  = 0
(k − p0 ) · 0 = 0
k · p0 − k 0 · p = 0
k · p − k 0 · p0 = 0
using them, 4 terms cancel out in (1.6), leading to,
e4 8(p0 · k) 8(p0 · k 0 )
 
1X 2 0 2
|τf i | = + + 16(2( ·  ) − 1)
2 s,s0 8 (k · p) (k 0 · p)
next noting that,
p0 · k k0 · p |k0 | k · p |k|
= = , 0 = 0
k·p k·p |k| k · p |k |
leads to,
|k0 |
 
1X |k|
|τf i |2 = e4 + 0 + 2(2( · 0 )2 − 1)
2 s,s0 |k| |k |

2. Cross section
In order to proceed the expression of the differential cross section in terms of the ampli-
tude for the process under consideration is recalled,
(2π)4 δ 4 (k 0 + p0 − k − p) d3 k 0 d3 p0
  X
1
dσ = q 3 0 3 0
|τf i |2
2
4 (k · p) − mγ m 2 2 (2π) 2ω(k ) (2π) 2ω(p ) 2 s,s0
 COMPTON EFFECT 5

which gives in this case,

(2.1)
e4 d3 k 0 d3 p0 |k0 |
  
4 4 0 0 |k| 0 2
dσ = (2π) δ (k + p − k − p) + 0 + 2(2( ·  ) − 1)
16m|k| (2π)3 k 0 (2π)3 p0 |k| |k |
Next the differential cross is computed for the case in which the momenta of the emerging
electron is not measured, thus an integration over this momentum has to be performed.
Using that,
ˆ 3 0 ˆ
dp 4 0
δ (k + p − k − p) = 2 d4 p0 δ(p02 − m2 )θ(p00 )δ 4 (k 0 + p0 − k − p)
0
p00
= 2δ((p + k − k 0 )2 − m2 )θ(m + k0 − k00 )
in addition the case will be considered where the energy of the emerging photon is not
measured. In that case an integration over k00 = |k0 | shall be done. In order to do so it is
useful to note that,
(p + k − k 0 )2 − m2 = 2m(k0 − k00 ) − 2k0 k00 (1 − cos θ)
where θ is the angle between k and k0 . Using the formula,
1 b
δ(b − ax) = δ(x − )
|a| a
leads to the identity,
2 mk0
(2.2) 2δ((p + k − k 0 )2 − m2 ) = δ(k00 − )
2m + 2k0 (1 − cos θ) m + k0 (1 − cos θ)
replacing this in (2.1) leads to,
dσ e4
= ×
dΩk0 16(2π)2 mk0
ˆ
2k00
  0 
0 0 mk0 k0 k0 0 2
dk0 δ k0 − + + 2(2( ·  ) − 1)
2m + 2k0 (1 − cos θ) m + k0 (1 − cos θ) k0 k00
e4 (ω 0 )2 ω 0
 
ω 0 2
= + 0 + 2(2( ·  ) − 1)
16(2π)2 mω mω ω ω
2
α2 ω0 ω0
     
ω 0 2 0 1
= + 0 + 2(2( ·  ) − 1) , ω = ω ω , ω = |k|,
4m2 ω ω ω 1+ m (1 − cos θ)
where the last equality has been written in terms of the hyperfine structure constant
e²
α = 4π . This formula was derived by Klein and Nishina in 1929[2]. In the non-relativistic
k0
limit m → 0 equation (2.2) shows that k0 → k00 and the classical Thompson formula is
recovered,
dσ α2
= 2 ( · 0 )2
dΩk0 m
The unpolarized experiment correspond to the case where one averages over the polariza-
tion of the initial photon and sum up over the polarization of the final photon. Therefore,

dσ  1 X dσ
=
dΩk0  2
unpol. dΩk0
λ,λ0 =1,2
 COMPTON EFFECT 6

it is found that3,
1 X 1 X 1
=2 , ( · 0 )2 = (1 + cos2 θ)
2 s,s0 =±1 2 s,s0 =±1 2

leading to4,
 0 2  0
α2
 
dσ  ω ω ω 2
(2.3) = + 0 − sin θ
dΩk0 unpol. 2m2 ω ω ω
Therefore the total unpolarized cross section is given by,
ˆ  ˆ 2π ˆ π IF
dσ  dσ 
(2.4) σ = dΩk0 = dϕ dθ sin θ
dΩk0 unpol. 0 0 dΩk0 unpol.
using that,
ω0 1
= ω
ω 1+ m
(1 − cos θ)
and replacing in (2.3) leads to,
ˆ
πα2 π sin2 θ
 
1 1
σ = 2
dθ sin θ ω 3
+ ω − ω
m 0 [1 + m (1 − cos θ)] [1 + m (1 − cos θ)] [1 + m
(1 − cos θ)]2
πα2 4 λ2 − 2λ − 2
 
2(1 + λ) ω
= 2 2
+ 2
+ 3
log[1 + 2λ] , λ =
m λ (1 + 2λ) λ m
in the non-relativistic limit this reduces to the Thomson total unpolarized cross-section,
πα2 8
σT =
m2 3
σ ω
in the figure bellow the ratio σT
is plotted as a function of λ = m
,
Σ
ΣT
1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

Λ
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

3The 0
polarization vectors (1) and (1) , can be choosen to lie in the k−k0 plane, with an angle θ between
0
them. With this choice (2) and (2) coincide and in a plane ortogonal to the k − k0 one, therefore,
X 0
((λ) · (λ ) )2 = 1 + cos2 θ
λ,λ0 =1,2

4In the non-relativistic limit ω 0 → ω the Thompson formula is recovered,

α2

dσ 
1 + cos2 θ


= 2
dΩk0 unpol.
 2m
 COMPTON EFFECT 7

References
[1] B. De Wit and J. Smith, Field theory in particle physics, North Holland (1986).
[2] O. Klein and Y. Nishina: Z. Phys. 52, 853 (1929).