compton effect

Compton effect   n.  The increase in wavelength of electromagnetic radiation, especially of an x-ray or a gamma-ray photon, scattered by an electron. [After Arthur Holly Compton.]

Main Entry: Comp·ton effect
Pronunciation: 'käm(p)-t&n-
Function: noun
: the loss of energy and concomitant increase in wavelength of ausually high-energy photon (as of X rays or gamma rays) that occurs upon collision of the photon with an electron
Compton, Arthur Holly (1892–1962), American physicist.Compton is generally regarded as one of the great figures in modern physics. A leader in the development of nuclear energy and investigations on cosmic rays, he discovered the effect that now bears hisname in 1923. This discovery helped to establish that electromagnetic radiation has a dual nature, as a wave and as a particle. While at the University of Chicago, he was from 1942 to 1945 the directorof the project that developed the first self-sustaining atomic chain reaction. He discovered the variation in the intensity of cosmic rays with the latitude and altitude of the observer and a methodfor the production of plutonium in quantity. In 1927 he was awarded, along with Charles T. R. Wilson, the Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of the Compton effect.

Compton effect   An increase in the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation, especially of x-rays or gamma-rays, when the photons constituting the radiation collide with free electrons. As a result of the Compton effect, the photons transfer some of their energy to the electrons. It is mainly through the Compton effect that matter absorbs radiant energy.