Bremsstrahlung

Bremsstrahlung is electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle accelerates in another particle’s electric field. Its spectrum is often continuous because the particle can lose varying amounts of energy.

Larmor formula: A classical formula for the power radiated by a nonrelativistic accelerating charge. It quantifies the radiation from the acceleration that produces bremsstrahlung.
X-ray tube: A device that produces X-rays when electrons strike a metal anode. Electron deceleration in the anode generates the continuous X-ray background.
Electromagnetic radiation: Energy carried through space by oscillating electric and magnetic fields. Bremsstrahlung is one physical process that produces this broader class of radiation.
Cherenkov radiation: Light emitted when a charged particle travels through a medium faster than light propagates in that medium. It requires motion through a medium above its light-speed threshold, not acceleration in a Coulomb encounter.
John Joly: An Irish physicist and geologist who investigated radiation and radioactivity. His early work examined the radiation produced when beta particles slow in matter.
Bethe–Heitler formula: A quantum electrodynamic formula for bremsstrahlung by high-energy charged particles in a nuclear field. It predicts emission probabilities and spectra in the high-energy regime.
Radiotherapy: The treatment of disease, especially cancer, using ionizing radiation. Medical linear accelerators produce high-energy bremsstrahlung photons for treatment.
Electromagnetic force: The interaction between electrically charged particles, mediated by electromagnetic fields and photons. A charged particle’s interaction with this force drives its acceleration in bremsstrahlung.
Compton scattering: The scattering of a photon by a charged particle, with a change in photon energy and direction. It begins with an incoming photon, whereas bremsstrahlung emits a photon during particle deflection.
Hendrik Kramers: A Dutch theoretical physicist who contributed to quantum theory and radiation physics. His 1923 treatment provided an influential account of the continuous X-ray spectrum.

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