Editing Mössbauer effect (section)

{{Short description|Resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of gamma radiation by atomic nuclei}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=April 2009}}
The '''Mössbauer effect''', or '''recoilless nuclear resonance fluorescence''', is a physical phenomenon discovered by [[Rudolf Mössbauer]] in 1958. It involves the resonant and [[Atomic recoil|recoil]]-free emission and absorption of [[gamma ray|gamma radiation]] by atomic nuclei bound in a solid. Its main application is in [[Mössbauer spectroscopy]].

In the Mössbauer effect, a narrow resonance for nuclear gamma emission and absorption results from the momentum of recoil being delivered to a surrounding [[crystal lattice]] rather than to the emitting or absorbing nucleus alone. When this occurs, no gamma energy is lost to the kinetic energy of recoiling nuclei at either the emitting or absorbing end of a gamma transition: emission and absorption occur at the same energy, resulting in strong, resonant absorption.