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Collisions and Scatterings
Information and knowledge in the domain of microscopic physics are obtained by two means: spec-
troscopy and collisions or scattering. In spectroscopy, we analyze the electromagnetic radiation
emitted or absorbed in the transitions between bound states of the systems. In scattering experi-
ments, we probe the interaction between various particles by performing experiments in which
one particle is scattered by another. For example, it was Rutherford’s experiments on the scatter-
ing of alpha particles that provided the physical basis for the nuclear atom model and for quan-
tum mechan ...