Bremsstrahlung and X-Ray Scattering

Abstract

In this chapter we treat jointly x-ray scattering by free atoms and electron bremsstrahlung in the atoms. The spectra for both processes are continuous, although at certain energies resonance features can appear in them. The theoretical description of these processes combines the need to go beyond the limits of first-order perturbation theory and to use dispersion relations, the weak dependence of the cross sections on the many-electron quantum numbers and the applicability of the one-electron model that this is based upon, and the comparatively minor role played by correlation effects.