Lesson plan
Stark effect
m = 0. Each n level consists of n degenerate sublevels; application of an electric field breaks the degeneracy. Energy levels can cross due to underlying symmetries of motion in the Coulomb potential. The Stark effect is the shifting and splitting of spectral lines of atoms and molecules due to the presence of an external electric field. It is the electric-field analogue of the Zeeman effect, where a spectral line is split into several components due to the presence of the magnetic field. Although initially coined for the static case, it is also used in the wider context to describe the effect of time-dependent electric fields. In particular, the Stark effect is responsible for the pressure broadening (Stark broadening) of spectral lines by charged particles in plasmas. For most spectral lines, the Stark effect is either linear (proportional to the applied electric field) or quadratic with a high accuracy. The Stark effect can be observed both for emission and absorption lines. The latter was sometimes called the inverse Stark effect, but this term is no longer used in the modern literature. -level spectrum as a function of the electric field near n = 15 for m = 0. Note how a complicated pattern of the energy levels emerges as the electric field increases, not unlike bifurcations of closed orbits in classical dynamical systems leading to chaos.
Article summary
m = 0. Each n level consists of n degenerate sublevels; application of an electric field breaks the degeneracy. Energy levels can cross due to underlying symmetries of motion in the Coulomb potential. The Stark effect is the shifting and splitting of spectral lines of atoms and molecules due to the presence of an external electric field. It is the electric-field analogue of the Zeeman effect, where a spectral line is split into several components due to the presence of the magnetic field. Although initially coined for the static case, it is also used in the wider context to describe the effect of time-dependent electric fields. In particular, the Stark effect is responsible for the pressure broadening (Stark broadening) of spectral lines by charged particles in plasmas. For most spectral lines, the Stark effect is either linear (proportional to the applied electric field) or quadratic with a high accuracy. The Stark effect can be observed both for emission and absorption lines. The latter was sometimes called the inverse Stark effect, but this term is no longer used in the modern literature. -level spectrum as a function of the electric field near n = 15 for m = 0. Note how a complicated pattern of the energy levels emerges as the electric field increases, not unlike bifurcations of closed orbits in classical dynamical systems leading to chaos.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
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