The Coulomb Scattering of Relativistic Electrons by Nuclei

Abstract

The cross section for the Coulomb scattering of relativistic electrons by atomic nuclei has been evaluated. The exact results obtained by Mott have been expanded in a power series in $\frac{Z}{137}$ where $Z$ is the nuclear charge, the coefficients depending principally on the angle of scattering. The coefficients have been evaluated numerically. The resultant cross sections, taken together with those evaluated previously by Bartlett and Watson for Hg, yield the cross section for all $Z$ to within 1 percent accuracy. A new approximate formula valid for $\frac{Z}{137}<0.2$ is obtained.