Condensed medium ionization losses

Following from formula (4.54), the transfer of energy on excitation of molecules has a noticeable probability even in the case where the impact parameter is much greater than their size d. Since the intermolecular spacings in a condensed medium are of order of d, a charged particle interacts with many of its molecules. The polarization of these molecules weakens the field of the particle, which, in its turn, weakens the interaction of the particle with the molecules located far from the track. This results in that the actual ionization losses are smaller than the value we would get by simply summing the losses in collisions with individual molecules given by formula (5.1). This polarization (density) effect was first pointed out by Swann,205 while the principles of calculation of ionization losses in a dense medium were developed by Fermi.206... 

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