Collective effect in energy deposition by beams of relativistic charged particles

This paper contains results of calculations of the collective energy loss by relativistic electron and ion clusters in solids and gases. The dependence of the effect on particle velocity, particle separation (i.e. beam density), and medium characteristics is illustrated. These results may be regarded as an extension of previous work on energy loss by nonrelativistic clusters to the relativistic regime, or as an extension of the Fermi density effect to the case of clusters of particles.