Polarization of Bremsstrahlung Radiation

Abstract

The dependence of the differential cross section for bremsstrahlung on photon polarization is calculated in the same approximation as the Bethe-Heitler formula for the sum over polarizations. The radiation is found to consist of a mixture of an unpolarized and a linearly polarized component. The relation of the method of intermediate states to the method of transitions between stationary states is explicitly stated.