Astrophysics (Index)About

natural broadening

(line broadening due to uncertainty principle)

The term natural broadening refers to a type of line broadening (mechanism that creates width to spectral lines so they are not infinitely narrow) stemming from the quantum-mechanical phenomenon indicated by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, that no particle has both a fixed velocity and position, and there must be some variation in the photons emitted, even for identical electron orbital transitions within identical atoms. Natural broadening generally has a small effect on the line width compared to other broadening mechanisms, but can be recognizable by the scale and shape of its broadening effect, the shape termed a Lorentzian profile.


(lines,spectrum)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_line#Natural_broadening
http://www-star.st-andrews.ac.uk/~kw25/teaching/nebulae/lecture08_linewidths.pdf
http://people.whitman.edu/~dunnivfm/FAASICPMS_Ebook/CH2/2_2_6.html
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/443054/what-is-the-meaning-of-natural-line-broadening
https://cefrc.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf1071/files/Files/2013%20Lecture%20Notes/Hanson/pLecture6.pdf

Referenced by pages:
damping profile
line broadening
Lorentzian distribution

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