Beyond the Linear Stark Effect: A Retrospective

Abstract

A review of studies of the electric-field influence on spectral lines is presented, beginning from the discovery of the Stark effect, and in particular focused on phenomena related to the effects of the plasma microfield non-uniformity.

Laboratory Hydrogen-Beta Emission Spectroscopy for Analysis of Astrophysical White Dwarf Spectra

“…Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy [14,15] measures optical emission from the micro-plasma, and the first few Balmer series hydrogen lines can be utilized to determine electron density and temperature [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. The generalized theory of Stark broadening in the analysis of laser-induced plasma experiments [16,17] show hydrogen beta, H β , profiles at densities of up to ∼8 × 10 17 cm −3 .…”

“…The generalized theory of Stark broadening in the analysis of laser-induced plasma experiments [16,17] show hydrogen beta, H β , profiles at densities of up to ∼8 × 10 17 cm −3 . For higher densities and from a theory point-of-view, quadrupole and higher order effects need to be considered [18][19][20]. Extensive hydrogen modeling [21], including recent systematic experimental efforts [22,23], and detailed analysis of Balmer series lines including the H β peak separation [24,25] reflect the level of knowledge about laboratory plasma.…”

Automodel Solutions of Biberman-Holstein Equation for Stark Broadening of Spectral Lines

“…The values of t were evenly spaced on a log scale in the range from t min = 30 to t max = 10 8 . The values of s were also evenly spaced on a log scale.…”

“…The Stark broadening of spectral lines is known to produce the long-tailed spectral line shapes of atom and ion radiation in plasmas (see, e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]). In the broad range of conditions in plasmas and gases, where the complete redistribution (CRD) in photon frequency within the resonance line shape is applicable, the radiative transfer is described by the Biberman-Holstein equation for the density of excited atoms [9,10] and characterized by the infinite mean-squared displacement of the initial perturbation [11] and, respectively, by the irreducibility of the integral equation, in space variables, to a differential one.…”

Spectral Line Shapes in Plasmas II

“…The asymmetry of hydrogen-like line profiles, observed at higher plasma densities, require going beyond the widely used dipole linear Stark effect approximation, which also implies considering quadrupole and higher-order multipole expansion terms. Demura [9] reviews the long, and at times twisted, history of the developments in this area. It is notorious that, in spite of all the efforts, there are still issues that are not viewed unanimously by the community.…”