Influence of Helical Trajectories of Perturbers on Stark Line Shapes in Magnetized Plasmas

Abstract

In plasmas subject to a strong magnetic field, the dynamical properties of the microfield are affected by the cyclotron motion, which can alter Stark-broadened lines. We illustrate this effect through calculations of the hydrogen Lyman α line in an ideal one-component plasma. A focus is put on the central Zeeman component. It is shown that the atomic dipole autocorrelation function decreases more slowly if the cyclotron motion is retained. In the frequency domain, this denotes a reduction of the line broadening. A discussion based on numerical simulations and analytical estimates is done.