Collision-induced absorption in atomic electronic transitions

Abstract

The collision-induced absorption and emission coefficients for electric-dipole forbidden atomic transitions are calculated for weak radiation fields. The approximations used are valid for $\hslash \omega$ near $\hslash {\omega }_0$, the atomic energy differences. The example case of $S-D$ transitions induced by a spherically symmetric perturber (e.g., a noble-gas atom) is treated in detail and compared to measurements. The case of "radiative collisions," in which both colliding atoms change their state, is included in the theory and is also compared to experiment.