Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect for multihundred GeV electrons

Abstract

Experimental results for the bremsstrahlung energy loss of 149, 207, and 287 GeV electrons in thin Ir, Ta, and Cu targets are presented. For each target and energy, a comparison between simulated values based on the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) suppression of incoherent bremsstrahlung is shown. For the electron energies investigated, the LPM effect enters the quantum regime where the recoil imposed on the electron by the emitted photon becomes important. Good agreement between simulations based on Migdal’s theory and data from the experiment is found, indicating that the LPM suppression is well understood also in the quantum regime. Results from a comparison between simulations with the “threshold” energy [Formula Presented] as a free parameter and the data are shown. This analysis reproduces the expected trend as a function of nominal radiation length, but yields values that tend to be low compared to Migdal’s theory. © 2004 The American Physical Society.