Line Mixing by Collisions in the Far-Infrared Spectrum of Ammonia

Abstract
The effect of mixing by collisions on overlapping lines in the far‐infrared (rotation) spectrum of gaseous ammonia was studied. A merging of the inversion doublets into single lines, similar to the collapse of the microwave inversion spectrum into a nonresonant spectrum, has been observed. The line shape has been analyzed using an adapted form of Ben‐Reuven's theory and values of the damping and cross‐relaxation parameters have been obtained for the rotational lines 3 → 4, 4 → 5, and 5 → 6.