Photon beam polarization and non-dipolar angular distributions

摘要

Angular distributions of ejecta from unoriented atoms and molecules depend upon the polarization state of the incident x-rays as well as upon the dynamics of the physical systems being studied. I recommend a simple geometrical way of looking at the polarization and its effects upon angular distributions. The polarization is represented as a vector in a parameter space that faithfully represents the polarization of the beam. The simple dependence of the angular dependence of the angular distributions on the polarization vector enables easy extraction of the dynamical information contained in those angular distributions. No new physical results emerge from this geometrical approach, but known consequences of the symmetries appear in an easily visualized form that I find pleasing and that has proved to be useful for planning experiments and for analyzing data.