International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Volume 15, Issue 2 (June 2025)

ISSN Print: 2161-4717   ISSN Online: 2161-4725

Google-based Impact Factor: 1  Citations  

Can a Free Electron Absorb a Photon?

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DOI: 10.4236/ijaa.2025.152012    15 Downloads   79 Views  

ABSTRACT

Contemporary physics holds that it is not possible for an electron to absorb a photon or to form a composite system as the resulting physics thereof leads to a scenario that can not be obtained in reality—i.e., it leads to a situation that requires the electron’s rest mass to be identically equal to zero. This position that a free electron cannot absorb a photon is correct if the photon is assumed to have an identically vanishing mass as is the case in contemporary physics. We herein argue otherwise—that an electron can indeed absorb a photon and this is on the proviso that the photon in question has a nonzero mass and obeys a specific dispersion relation. Further, we find that the electron can absorb a massive photon only with a frequency below the threshold determined by the photon mass and that of the electron.

Share and Cite:

Nyambuya, G. , Abbey, G. , Simfukwe, J. , Phiri, S. , Simpemba, P. and Srivastava, A. (2025) Can a Free Electron Absorb a Photon?. International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 15, 161-170. doi: 10.4236/ijaa.2025.152012.

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