The Nature of X-Rays and Their Interactions with Matter-Volume I: Semi-Classical Concepts (Springer Tracts in Modern Physics, 295)

Volume I of the second edition, subtitled Semi-Classical Concepts, presents x-ray science through the semi-classical framework of light and matter. The opening chapter, Introduction and Overview, remains largely unchanged from the first edition.It sets the stage for both volumes of the new edition by reviewing the revolutionary advances in x-ray science driven by synchrotron radiation sources and x-ray free-electron lasers.The following chapters are organized into two parts.Part I establishes the equivalence between wave-based and conventional quantum descriptions of light, which form the foundation of the semi-classical approach.It also discusses the generation of synchrotron and XFEL radiation, now extended to recent accelerator breakthroughs that enable the creation of diffraction- and transform-limited x-ray pulses reaching into the attosecond regime. Part II applies the semi-classical treatment to describe how x-rays interact with matter, whether through an individual atomic or co