tiefinelastischer

Tiefinelastischer refers to phenomena or processes in physics that are deeply inelastic, most commonly described in the context of deep inelastic scattering (DIS). In this usage, a high-energy projectile scatters off a hadron, transferring a large amount of energy and momentum, which typically leads to the breakup of the target and the production of multiple final-state particles. The term highlights the regime where the internal substructure of hadrons becomes accessible.

In the history of particle physics, tiefinelastische Streuung experiments, notably at the SLAC facility in the 1960s, provided evidence for point-like constituents inside nucleons, later identified as quarks. The theoretical framework combines the parton model with quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Observables are described in terms of the momentum transfer, often denoted Q^2, and the Bjorken scaling variable x. The phenomenon exhibits how structure functions evolve with Q^2, encapsulated in parton distribution functions that reflect the probability of finding a parton carrying a given fraction of the hadron’s momentum.

Practically, tiefinelastischer Streuprozess is analyzed via factorization: the cross section is treated as a convolution of a perturbatively calculable lepton–parton interaction and nonperturbative parton distributions. This approach underpins measurements in electron-proton, neutrino-nucleon, and heavy-ion collisions, and informs our understanding of the internal dynamics of protons, neutrons, and nuclei.

The term is primarily used in German-language physics literature and is synonymous with the English term “deep inelastic” in the relevant contexts. The adjective tiefinelastischer commonly modifies nouns such as Streuungsprozess or Teilchen.