A Time-Asymmetric Process in Central Force Scatterings

Abstract

This article puts forth a process applicable to central force scatterings. Under certain assumptions, we show that in attractive force fields a high speed particle with a small mass speeding through space, statistically loses energy by colliding softly with large masses that move slowly and randomly. Furthermore, we show that the opposite holds in repulsive force fields: the small particle statistically gains energy. This effect is small and is mainly due to asymmetric energy exchange of the transverse (i.e., perpendicular) collisions. We derive a formula that quantifies this effect (Eq. 12). We then put this work in a broader statistical context and discuss its consistency with established results.