Review of Rydberg Spectral Line Formation in Plasmas

The present review is dedicated to the problem of an array of transitions between highly-excited atomic levels. Hydrogen atoms and hydrogen-like ions in plasmas are considered here. The presented methods focus on calculation of spectral line shapes. Fast and simple methods of universal ionic profile calculation for the Hnα (Δn=1) and Hnβ (Δn=2) spectral lines are demonstrated. The universal dipole matrix elements formulas for the Hnα and Hnβ transitions are presented. A fast method for spectral line shape calculations in the presence of an external magnetic field using the formulas for universal dipole matrix elements is proposed. This approach accounts for the Doppler and Stark–Zeeman broadening mechanisms. Ion dynamics effects are treated via the frequency fluctuation model. The accuracy of the presented model is discussed. A comparison of this approach with experimental data and the results of molecular dynamics simulation is demonstrated. The kinetics equation for the populations of highly-excited ionic states is solved in the parabolic representation. The population source associated with dielectronic recombination is considered.