Compton

Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It lies near the South Bay region and is part of the broader urban community of greater Los Angeles. The city has a diverse population and has played a role in the cultural and economic history of the region.

Compton effect (Compton scattering) is a quantum phenomenon discovered by Arthur H. Compton in 1923, when X-ray photons scatter off electrons. The scattered photons emerge with longer wavelengths than the incident photons, demonstrating that light behaves as particles and that momentum is transferred to electrons. The finding helped establish quantum electrodynamics, and Compton received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927.

Compton wavelength is a quantum mechanical property defined as lambda_C = h/(m c), with h Planck’s constant, m the particle’s rest mass, and c the speed of light. It sets a scale at which relativistic quantum effects become significant and provides a characteristic length for the wave-like behavior of particles. The value differs by particle.

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) was a NASA space telescope launched in 1991 as part of the Great Observatories program to study high-energy gamma rays. It operated for nearly a decade, making numerous discoveries, before being decommissioned and reentering Earth's atmosphere in 2000.

The surname Compton originates in England. In science, the name is associated with Arthur H. Compton, whose work on photon-electron interactions led to the Compton effect and related concepts.