Theory of Satellite Structures on Spectral-Line Profiles

Theoretical line-shape calculations, which employ an approximation to the classical theory, are compared with experiment to demonstrate that the main features of the satellite-band problem-the line, the high-intensity red satellites, and the blue satellite---can be described simultaneously using simple intermolecular potentials. The comparisons focus on the cesium resonance transitions for which all of the characteristic satellite structures have been observed. In particular, illustrative calculations are detailed for cesium-xenon systems at relative densities of 5-41 and for cesium-argon at 61, and these results are correlated with experiments performed at lower relative densities. The results indicate that widely different potentials can give very similar line profiles. Ancillary conclusions are presented about the role of Lennard-Jones potentials in line-shape calculations.