Absorption and dispersion in the O2 microwave spectrum at atmospheric pressures

Calculations are performed for absorption and phase dispersion at various frequencies within the 60 GHz band of O2 from low pressures where the spectral lines are isolated, to atmospheric pressures where they merge to form a continuum band. A perturbation theory proposed by Rosenkranz was tested and found to be valid for pressures up to 100 kPa (1 atm). The ’’line coupling coefficients’’, which describe the transfer of excitation from one radiating state to another, are also studied and various methods for evaluating these coefficients are analyzed and compared with experimental data. It is found that dispersion measurements are extremely sensitive to these coefficients and an experimental procedure for systematically measuring them is outlined; it is shown that such measurements can provide a very sensitive test for theoretical calculations of inelastic transition amplitudes.