SYNCHROTRON-RADIATION - AN INVERSE COMPTON-EFFECT

Synchrotron radiation in a static homogeneous magnetic field is consid ered from the viewpoint of inverse Compton scattering of equivalent ph otons in a generalization of the Fermi-Weizsacker-Williams method. The charged particle trajectory in its orbital plane is treated as a set of infinitesimal segments and, in a corresponding local Lorentz frame, the influence of each segment on the particle, is approximated by an equivalent electromagnetic wave which undergoes Compton interaction wi th the particle. The complex amplitudes of the scattered radiation fro m all elements are added coherently, on returning to the laboratory fr ame, to yield the total radiated intensity. This procedure successfull y accounts for synchrotron radiation throughout a major fraction of th e parameter space. In the classical limit it reproduces exactly all th e radiation properties. In the very interesting Landau continuum limit where quantum electrodynamical modifications of the radiation propert ies are nevertheless important (i.e., the limit gammaB greater than or similar to 4.4 x 10(13) G and gamma much greater than 1), application of the Compton cross section provides results which are exact for spi nless particles. For particles with spin there is an extra component o f radiation associated with spin-flip transitions which our approach c annot take into account, but which is relatively unimportant.