Spectral line limiting and polarization shift in plasmas of high particle and energy density

Abstract

The change of the energetic quantum levels of electrons in atoms or ions within plasma due to the electrostatic energy of the Debye sphere, is discussed on the basis of an electrostatic quantum model which permits an immediate, and therefore an integrated, inclusion of the Debye screening. The resulting Debye field leads to an alternative (temperature dependent) formulation of the Inglis-Teller Stark merging of spectral lines. In the new model the drowning of lines gives values closer to the Inglis-Teller limit than values given by the quantum approximation of the hydrogenic model. The straightforward calculation of the polarization shift based on the new model is closest to the experimental values and is between the very low values given by the semiclassical approach and the too high values given by the quantum approach of the hydrogenic effective charge model.