Polarization of Radiation Excited by Electron Impact

Abstract

Polarized radiation following electron impact.—If a unidirectional beam of electrons, of velocity slightly in excess of the resonance potential, is projected through a vapor at a very low pressure so that effects due to atomic collision and resonance radiation are negligible, and in the absence of an applied field and resulting Larmor precession, there is reason to suspect that the radiation emitted perpendicular to the electron beam should be partially polarized, especially for lines corresponding to $\Delta j=1\mathrm{}$.