Space distribution and energy straggling of charged particles via Fokker-Planck equation

The Fokker-Planck equation describing a beam of charged particles entering a homogeneous medium is solved here for a stationary case. Interactions are taken into account through Coulomb cross-section. Starting from the charged-particle distribution as a function of velocity and penetration depth, some important kinetic quantities are calculated, like mean velocity, range and the loss of energy per unit space. In such quantities the energy straggling is taken into account. This phenomenon is not considered in the continuous slowing-down approximation that is commonly used to obtain the range and the stopping power. Finally the well-known Bohr or Bethe formula is found as a first-order approximation of the Fokker-Planck equation. © 1996 Società Italiana di Fisica.