Theoretical Study of Positron-Electron Scattering with Thermal-Volkov Wavefunction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21009/SPEKTRA.102.01Keywords:
differential cross section, positron energy, temperature, z-value, laser field photons, pulse duration, scattering, resonance, thermal effectsAbstract
This study investigates the differential cross-section (DCS) for laser-assisted positron-electron scattering in a Gaussian wave packet, within a linearly polarized laser field in a thermal environment. For this, a theoretical model was developed with a designed thermal Gaussian Volkov wavefunction, vector potential, and scattering matrix with the application of the Bessel function. The developed model was computed using the Matlab programming language to study the nature of the developed model of DCS. The observation shows that the DCS initially increases with positron energy, reaching a peak around 0.5 eV; after that, it decreases with further increases in energy and approaches a constant at high energies. This is due to changing dynamics of positron-electron interactions with resonance occurring at specific energies. Also, the observation shows that temperature plays a significant role, especially at lower energies, with higher temperatures (325 K) enhancing the DCS due to increased thermal excitation of the target electrons. The study also explores the influence of the z-value and found that higher z-values lead to a decrease in the DCS due to the Coulombic interaction becoming stronger. Moreover, the effects of external factors such as the number of laser field photons and pulse duration are considered. The observation shows that shorter laser pulse durations and higher photon energies enhance the scattering process, while longer pulse durations result in a decrease in DCS. This study aids in optimizing technologies like PET imaging, plasma diagnostics, and particle accelerators by revealing how positron-electron scattering varies with energy, temperature, and laser parameters. It supports real-world applications in medical, space, and materials science.
References
A. Bhatia, “Scattering and its applications to various atomic processes: Elastic scattering, resonances, photoabsorption, Rydberg states, and opacity of the atmosphere of the Sun and stellar objects,” Atoms, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 78, 2020.
N. Kroll and K. Watson, “Charged-particles scattering in the presence of a strong electromagnetic wave,” Phys. Rev. A, vol. 8, pp. 804–809, 1973.
D. J. Griffiths and D. F. Schroeter, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 3rd ed. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
T. Podszus and A. Di Piazza, “First-order strong-field QED processes including the damping of particle states,” Phys. Rev. D, vol. 104, no. 1, p. 016014, 2021.
L. Rosenberg and F. Zhou, “Generalized Volkov wave functions: Application to laser-assisted scattering,” Phys. Rev. A, vol. 47, no. 3, p. 2146, 1993.
K. Fedus and G. Karwasz, “Positron scattering at thermal energies,” Acta Phys. Pol. A, vol. 125, no. 3, pp. 829–832, 2014.
J. T. Mendonca and A. Serbeto, “Volkov solutions for relativistic quantum plasmas,” Phys. Rev. E, vol. 83, no. 2, p. 026406, 2011.
S. Taj, B. Manaut, and M. El Idrissi, “Laser-assisted positron-impact ionization of hydrogen atoms,” Acta Phys. Pol. A, vol. 136, no. 1, p. 78, 2019.
P. Fraser, “Positrons and positronium in gases,” Adv. At. Mol. Phys., vol. 4, pp. 63–107, 1968.
S. Singh et al., “Theoretical formalism to estimate the positron scattering cross section,” J. Phys. Chem. A, vol. 120, no. 28, pp. 5685–5692, 2016.
J. Larkin et al., “Numerical study of positron-hydrogen scattering,” Phys. Rev. A, vol. 57, no. 4, pp. 2572–2577, 1998. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.57.2572.
S. H. Dhobi et al., “Differential cross-section in the presence of a weak laser field for inelastic scattering,” Ukr. J. Phys., vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 227–235, 2022, doi: 10.15407/ujpe67.4.227.
S. P. Roshchupkin, V. V. Dubov, and D. V. Doroshenko, “Resonance of the annihilation channel of a laser-assisted electron-positron scattering,” in Proc. PhotonIcs Electromagn. Res. Symp. (PIERS-Spring), Rome, Italy, Jun. 2019, pp. 4220–4225.
J. Pan, S. M. Li, and J. Berakdar, “Laser-assisted positron-impact ionization of atomic hydrogen,” Opt. Lett., vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 585–587, 2007.
W. Y. Du, B. H. Wang, and S. M. Li, “Nonlinear effects in the laser-assisted scattering of a positron by a muon,” Mod. Phys. Lett. B, vol. 32, no. 05, p. 1850058, 2018.
K. A. Bornikov, I. P. Volobuev, and Y. V. Popov, “On Compton ionization of positronium by twisted photons,” Moscow Univ. Phys. Bull., vol. 80, no. 1, pp. 76–84, 2025.
Z. K. Dou et al., “Compact spin-polarized positron acceleration in multilayer microhole-array films,” Phys. Rev. E, vol. 111, no. 3, p. 035209, 2025.
Q. Su and J. H. Eberly, “Model atom for multiphoton physics,” Phys. Rev. A, vol. 44, no. 9, pp. 5997–6008, 1991. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.44.5997.
F. He, A. Becker, and U. Thumm, "Strong-field modulated diffraction effects in the correlated electron-nuclear motion in dissociating H₂⁺," Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 101, no. 21, p. 213002, 2008.
X. H. Ji et al., “Quantum dynamics of positron-hydrogen scattering and three-body bound state formation with an assisting laser field,” J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys., vol. 57, no. 1, p. 015203, 2024.
S. H. Dhobi et al., "Differential cross section with Volkov-thermal wave function in Coulomb potential,” Atom Indonesia, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 19–25, 2024.
S. H. Dhobi et al., “Study of thermodynamics of a thermal electron in scattering,” Heliyon, vol. 8, no. 12, 2022.
M. Shorifuddoza et al., “Scattering of e∓ from ytterbium atoms,” Eur. Phys. J. D, vol. 73, pp. 1–23, 2019.
A. I. Lozano et al., “Electron and positron scattering cross sections from CO2: A comparative study over a broad energy range (0.1–5000 eV),” J. Phys. Chem. A, vol. 126, no. 36, pp. 6032–6046, 2022.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 K. C. Narayan, S. P. Gupta, K. Yadav, S. H. Dhobi

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
SPEKTRA: Jurnal Fisika dan Aplikasinya allow the author(s) to hold the copyright without restrictions and allow the author(s) to retain publishing rights without restrictions. SPEKTRA: Jurnal Fisika dan Aplikasinya CC-BY or an equivalent license as the optimal license for the publication, distribution, use, and reuse of scholarly work. In developing strategy and setting priorities, SPEKTRA: Jurnal Fisika dan Aplikasinya recognize that free access is better than priced access, libre access is better than free access, and libre under CC-BY or the equivalent is better than libre under more restrictive open licenses. We should achieve what we can when we can. We should not delay achieving free in order to achieve libre, and we should not stop with free when we can achieve libre.
SPEKTRA: Jurnal Fisika dan Aplikasinya is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
E-ISSN 2541-3392
Focus & Scope
Editorial Team
Reviewer Team
Author Guidelines
Article Template
Author Fee
Publication Ethics
Plagiarism Policy
Open Access Policy
Peer Review Process
Retraction & Correction
Licensing & Copyright
Archiving & Repository
Contact 
Mendeley