On the Stopping of Fast Particles and on the Creation of Positive Electrons. Offprint from: Proceedings of the Royal Society A, Vol. 146, 1934. THE BETHE-HEITLER FORMULA

BETHE, Hand & HEITLER, Walter

Publication Date: 1934

About this Item

First edition, very rare offprint, containing the famous Bethe-Heitler formula for pair production from photons in the field of a charged particle, such as an atomic nucleus. "After leaving Germany in 1933 and finding temporary refuge in Manchester, England, Bethe collaborated with his fellow refugee Walter Heitler, who was also expert in QED [quantum electrodynamics]. Together they carried out the first precise relativistic calculation of the two dominant processes of high-energy electrodynamics - the production of photons by high-energy electrons and the production of electron-positron pairs by high-energy photons passing through matter. The Bethe-Heitler calculation of photon production (called by its German name, 'bremsstrahlung') and pair production was the most important achievement of QED in the 1930s. The calculation was a tour de force of analytical skill, and it explained quantitatively the observations of cosmic-ray showers, in which high-energy electrons passing through the atmosphere generated a multitude of lower-energy electrons, positrons, and photons traveling together in the same direction. Bethe and Heitler called attention to the fact that not all high-energy cosmic rays generated showers" (Freeman Dyson, 'Hans Bethe and quantum electrodynamics,' Physics Today, October 2005, pp. 48-50). Bethe won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. 8vo, pp. 83-112. Original printed wrappers.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1677600330834

Bibliographic Details

• Title: On the Stopping of Fast Particles and on the Creation of Positive Electrons. Offprint from: Proceedings of the Royal Society A, Vol. 146, 1934. THE BETHE-HEITLER FORMULA
• Publication Date: 1934
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine