Lepton mass effects in the Bethe–Heitler process

Abstract

We develop the full finite lepton mass formalism for the production of real photons via the Bethe–Heitler reaction of unpolarized leptons off unpolarized nucleons. Genuine lepton mass effects are described, in particular their dependence upon the lepton mass and the initial beam energy, as well as their sensitivity to the nucleon isospin. In the minimum momentum transfer region, these effects dominate the muon induced proton cross section and become significant for electron scattering at small xB.