Nuclear resonant scattering using synchrotron radiation

A one-dimensional quantum model for nuclear resonant scattering using synchrotron radiation has been developed. This model gives a clear physical interpretation of the most prominent features of the coherent forward scattering process namely, the “speed-up” and “dynamical beat” effects. The form of the solution, for the time-dependent forward scattered intensity of the resonant radiation from the resonant medium after synchrotron radiation excitation, is a finite series. This unique solution can be interpreted in terms of a summation over all multiple forward scattering paths the radiation takes in reaching the detector. The resonant medium is represented by a linear chain of N effective resonant nuclei. The analysis starts from a coupled set of quantum mechanical equations for the relevant amplitudes in frequency space. Transformation to the time domain gives an analytical expression for the forward scattered intensity. The contribution of every order of the multiple scattering processes from the N effective nuclei appears naturally. The expression gives a clear physical understanding of all relevant aspects of resonant forward nuclear scattering. Furthermore, the present formalism allows the consideration of incoherent processes. This permits the study of processes in which there is gamma emission with recoil or emission of internal-conversion electrons. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.