Eur. Phys. J. D (2021) 75: 184
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-021-00198-1

Regular Article - Atomic Physics

Stark-Lorentz profiles of spectral lines of atoms and polar molecules in magnetized turbulent plasmas: analytical results

Physics Department, 380 Duncan Drive, Auburn University, 36849, Auburn, AL, USA

^a goks@physics.auburn.edu

Received: 11 January 2021
Accepted: 14 June 2021
Published online: 27 June 2021

Abstract

We present analytical results for spectral line profiles of atoms and polar molecules in magnetized turbulent plasmas for the situation where the ion microfield is much smaller than both the field of the Low-frequency Electrostatic Turbulence (LET), developed along the magnetic field B, and the Lorentz field Bv/c. This situation arises, e.g., in magnetic fusion devices, solar plasmas, and white dwarfs plasmas. We obtain explicit analytical results for the line profiles in the universal form valid for any ratio p of the field of the LET and the Lorentz field and for any detuning from the unperturbed position of the spectral line. We find that the dependence of the line intensity on the ratio p at a fixed detuning is non-monotonic: as this ratio increases, the line intensity first increases, then reaches a maximum, and then decreases. For hydrogenic atoms or ions, we also provide the corresponding theoretical Stark-Lorentz profiles for the Lyman-beta, Lyman-delta, and Balmer-beta lines. From an experimental profile of the spectral line of an atom, an ion, or a polar molecule, the employment of our analytical results for the line profiles allows determining both the root-mean-square field $F_0$ of the LET and the product ${\mathit{BT}}^{1/2}$, where B is the magnetic field and T is the temperature.