Thomson scattering
E436131
Thomson scattering is the low-energy, classical limit of photon–electron scattering in which electromagnetic radiation is elastically scattered by free charged particles, especially electrons.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Thomson scattering canonical | 2 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4393308 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Thomson scattering Context triple: [Compton effect, hasClassicalLimit, Thomson scattering]
-
A.
Thomson cross section
The Thomson cross section is a fundamental physical constant that quantifies the effective area for low-energy (classical) scattering of electromagnetic radiation by a free charged particle, typically an electron.
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B.
Rayleigh scattering
Rayleigh scattering is the physical phenomenon in which light or other electromagnetic radiation is elastically scattered by particles much smaller than its wavelength, explaining effects such as the blue color of the daytime sky.
-
C.
Compton effect
The Compton effect is the increase in wavelength (and corresponding decrease in energy) of X-rays or gamma rays when they scatter off electrons, providing key evidence for the particle nature of light.
-
D.
Klein–Nishina formula
The Klein–Nishina formula is a fundamental result in quantum electrodynamics that gives the differential cross section for Compton scattering of photons by free electrons, incorporating relativistic and quantum effects.
-
E.
Bremsstrahlung
Bremsstrahlung is electromagnetic radiation emitted when charged particles, such as electrons, are decelerated or deflected by the electric fields of atomic nuclei.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Thomson scattering Target entity description: Thomson scattering is the low-energy, classical limit of photon–electron scattering in which electromagnetic radiation is elastically scattered by free charged particles, especially electrons.
-
A.
Thomson cross section
The Thomson cross section is a fundamental physical constant that quantifies the effective area for low-energy (classical) scattering of electromagnetic radiation by a free charged particle, typically an electron.
-
B.
Rayleigh scattering
Rayleigh scattering is the physical phenomenon in which light or other electromagnetic radiation is elastically scattered by particles much smaller than its wavelength, explaining effects such as the blue color of the daytime sky.
-
C.
Compton effect
The Compton effect is the increase in wavelength (and corresponding decrease in energy) of X-rays or gamma rays when they scatter off electrons, providing key evidence for the particle nature of light.
-
D.
Klein–Nishina formula
The Klein–Nishina formula is a fundamental result in quantum electrodynamics that gives the differential cross section for Compton scattering of photons by free electrons, incorporating relativistic and quantum effects.
-
E.
Bremsstrahlung
Bremsstrahlung is electromagnetic radiation emitted when charged particles, such as electrons, are decelerated or deflected by the electric fields of atomic nuclei.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
elastic scattering
ⓘ
photon–electron scattering ⓘ physical process ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
free charged particles
ⓘ
free electrons ⓘ low-energy photons ⓘ |
| assumes |
classical electrodynamics
ⓘ
electron recoil is negligible ⓘ electron treated as a classical point charge ⓘ |
| category |
classical electromagnetism
ⓘ
scattering theory ⓘ |
| changes | photon direction ⓘ |
| conserves |
photon energy
ⓘ
photon wavelength ⓘ |
| describes | elastic scattering of electromagnetic radiation by free charged particles ⓘ |
| differsFrom | Compton scattering by absence of photon energy shift ⓘ |
| governedBy |
Lorentz force law
ⓘ
linked to:
Lorentz force
Maxwell equations ⓘ
linked to:
Maxwell's equations
|
| hasAngularDependence | 1 + cos²θ ⓘ |
| hasDifferentialCrossSection | dσ/dΩ = (r_e²/2)(1 + cos²θ) ⓘ |
| hasTotalCrossSection | σ_T = (8π/3) r_e^2 ⓘ |
| hasTotalCrossSectionValue | σ_T ≈ 6.65×10⁻²⁹ m² ⓘ |
| isApproximationOf |
Klein–Nishina scattering formula at low energies
ⓘ
linked to:
Klein–Nishina formula
|
| isImportantFor |
opacity in hot stellar atmospheres
ⓘ
polarization of scattered light ⓘ radiation transport in plasmas ⓘ |
| isIndependentOf | photon frequency in its validity regime ⓘ |
| isLimitOf |
Compton scattering
ⓘ
linked to:
Compton effect
|
| isLimitType | classical limit of photon–electron scattering ⓘ |
| isSpecialCaseOf |
Rayleigh scattering
ⓘ
classical radiation scattering ⓘ |
| namedAfter | J. J. Thomson ⓘ |
| neglects |
electron spin effects
ⓘ
quantum electrodynamics effects ⓘ |
| occursIn |
astrophysical plasmas
ⓘ
ionized interstellar medium ⓘ stellar interiors ⓘ the solar corona ⓘ |
| polarizationDependsOn | scattering angle ⓘ |
| produces | linearly polarized scattered radiation ⓘ |
| relatedTo | Compton scattering ⓘ |
| usedIn |
diagnostics of inertial confinement fusion plasmas
ⓘ
diagnostics of tokamak plasmas ⓘ fusion plasma diagnostics ⓘ laser Thomson scattering diagnostics ⓘ |
| usedToProbe |
electron density in plasmas
ⓘ
temperature of laboratory plasmas ⓘ |
| usesConstant | classical electron radius r_e ⓘ |
| validWhen |
nonrelativistic electron velocities
ⓘ
photon energy is much smaller than electron rest mass energy ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Thomson scattering Description of subject: Thomson scattering is the low-energy, classical limit of photon–electron scattering in which electromagnetic radiation is elastically scattered by free charged particles, especially electrons.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.