A simple ion-ion collision question

[mattman]

Hello everyone,


Say you have two deuterium ions. They each have the same energy.
Say they slam into one another and Do not fuse.

1. Can a photon or x-ray be produced?

2. Is there a reference that says: particle 1 leaves with (x - 25)
and particle 2 leaves with (x + 25) based on the angle of collision?
What is the name of that formula?


That would cover all the possible things that could happen, right?


Thanks!

[D Tibbets]

When particles collide they can exchange kinetic energy- one is upscattered, and one is down scattered. Also, there can be glancing collisions where direction is changed. There is presumably some photons emmitted, though in ion collisions this is apparently minor. When a light electron strikes an ion (turns around it in a tight partial orbit) it is accelerated much more and the photon emitted is much more energetic (bremsstrunlung X-ray).

The particles can have coulomb collisions (bounce off each other), they can fuse, or if the energy is enough they can blow up. That is what happens in atom smashers- accelerators where the particles collide so fast that their constituents are thrown out to fast for the strong (?) nuclear force to hold the composite nuclei together. Then you get all sorts of interesting products. Even if the nuclei manage to stick together, the daughter isotope is often unstable and decays to other products.

Dan Tibbets

[mattman]

Dan,

So when two ions collide one of four things can happen:

1. The ions bounce off one another, this is called a coulomb collision.

2. The ions bounce off one another AND a photon is created.

3. The ions pulverize one another, like in atom smashers.

4. The ions fuse.

What is the difference between 1 and 2? Ions colliding and ions colliding, creating a photon. Do they always create photons when this collide?

Does the following equation exsist:

Function( Energy of ion 1, Energy of ion 2, Angle of collision) ==> (Energy of ion 1 leaving, Energy of ion 2 leaving)

I heard this was in the NRL plasma foundary but I could not find anything like it.

Thanks

[D Tibbets]

I'm not very knowledgeable in this field, but I believe 1 and 2 would be elastic coulomb collisions and inelastic coulomb collisions respectively. elastic collisions means that the particles rebound/ interact without any loss of energy. Inelastic collisions have some energy loss (photons emitted).

Dan Tibbets