ATOMIC LINE SHAPES FROM A PLASMA. Technical Report No. 3

Technical Report · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1959

OSTI ID:4200739

Mozer, B

Several line shapes emitted by atoms in a plasma were calculated. The free ions and electrons in the gas which are responsible for broadening and shifting the emitted radiation are considered to be classical particles. The simultaneous effect of these perturbers on the emitting atom is treated by considering the ions in the static approximation and the electrons in the impact approximation. Strict regard is paid to the validity of these approximations. The line shapes are calculated by a method which assumes that the static ionic electric field splits the line into its Stark components. The impact electrons then broaden each component causing them to overlap. The resulting line shape is obtained by averaging the broadened, overlapping Stark components over all ionic fields multiplied by an appropriate distribution. A theory of impact-broadened overlapping lines developed by Baranger, and Kolb and Griem was used to calculate the effect of the electrons. New ionic field distributions which are important for hydrogen line shapes were calculated by a new method which included the correlations between the harged particles in the gas. A calculated Balmer beta line shape was in close agreement with a recent precise measurement. The close agreement between these results emphasizes the importance of the electrons in directly broadening the Stark components and indirectly modifying the ionic field distribution. (auth)

• Research Organization: Carnegie Inst. of Tech., Pittsburgh
• NSA Number: NSA-14-017079
• OSTI ID: 4200739
• Report Number(s): NP-8690
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ATOMS
CONFIGURATION
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
EMISSION
GASES
HYDROGEN
IONS
MATHEMATICS
PHYSICS
PLASMA
RADIATIONS
SPECTRA
SPECTRAL SHIFT
STARK EFFECT