Eur. Phys. J. D (2017) 71: 28
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2016-70651-1

Regular Article

A quantum transport model for atomic line radiation in plasmas^*

Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, PIIM UMR 7345, 13397 Marseille Cedex 20, France

^a e-mail: joel.rosato@univ-amu.fr

Received: 18 October 2016
Published online: 9 February 2017

Abstract

Emission and absorption lines in plasmas are investigated theoretically using a phase space formulation of quantum electrodynamics. A transport equation for the one-photon Wigner function is derived and formulated in terms of the noncommutative Moyal product. This equation reduces to the standard radiative transfer equation at the large spectral band limit, when the characteristic spectral band of the emission and absorption coefficients is larger than the inverse photon absorption length and time. We examine deviations to this limit. An ideal slab geometry is considered. The Wigner function relative to hydrogen Lyman α in stellar atmospheric conditions is calculated.