Nonequilibrium statistical thermodynamics of channeled particles: Resonance transitions and dechanneling

An elementary act of dechanneling includes diffusion of particles in the space of transverse energies and a resonance transition that occurs after a particle reaches the channeling-regime potential level. The dechanneling rate coefficient is defined using equations of nonequilibrium statistical thermodynamics. Physical quantities including the resonance transition matrix element, single-phonon and electron scattering relaxation rates, and the transverse quasi-temperature function related to the difference between the thermodynamic parameters of fast particles and the thermostat determining the dechanneling rate coefficient are expressed in terms of the basic parameters of the theory.