Quenching of triplet positronium by ions in aqueous solutions.

• Main Author: Green, Ralph. E.
• Other Authors: Foster, J. (Supervisor)
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: McGill University 1956
• Subjects: Physics.
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=110205

The comparatively rare positive electron or positron appears to have exactly the same mass as the negative electron. In a vacuum it is stable, but in the presence of matter in any form, it readily combines with an ordinary negative electron, and the result is the complete disappearance of the mass of the pair and the emission of gamma rays of equivalent energy. This process is called annihilation and the radiation emitted is annihilation radiation. The emission of one photon is theoretically possible but can occur only in the presence of a very strong external field or very near a nucleus. Otherwise the total momentum for the process could not be conserved.