Thomson scattering is the elastic scattering of electromagnetic radiation by a free charged particle, as described by classical electromagnetism. It is just the low-energy limit of Compton scattering: the particle kinetic energy and photon frequency are the same before and after the scattering. This limit is valid as long as the photon energy is much less than the mass energy of the particle: .
Read more about Thomson Scattering: Introduction, Examples of Thomson Scattering
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