Radiative transfer across expanding laser-produced plasmas. I. Line profiles

The transport of line radiation transverse to the axis of an axisymmetric expanding plasma, such as a laser-produced plasma, has been studied for line profiles in which the Doppler contribution from ion streaming varies from being negligible to being the dominant cause of line broadening. Emergent line profiles computed for model source functions and for profiles which are intrinsically Gaussian or Lorentzian illustrate the broad range of profiles which might be observed. Absorption by the plasma of radiation incident from outside is also considered. Astrophysical comparisons are made and a possible source of error in the wavelength determination of lines from a laser-produced plasma is pointed out.