Thomson scattering

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Light–matter interaction
Low-energy phenomena:
Photoelectric effect
Mid-energy phenomena:
Thomson scattering
Compton scattering
High-energy phenomena:
Pair production
Photodisintegration
Photofission
v t e

Thomson scattering is the elastic scattering of electromagnetic radiation by a free charged particle, as described by classical electromagnetism. It is the low-energy limit of Compton scattering: the particle's kinetic energy and photon frequency do not change as a result of the scattering.^[1] This limit is valid as long as the photon energy is much smaller than the mass energy of the particle: ${\displaystyle \nu \ll mc^{2}/h}$, or equivalently, if the wavelength of the light is much greater than the Compton wavelength of the particle (e.g., for electrons, longer wavelengths than hard x-rays).^[2]