A relaxation theory of stark broadening by ions

A theory of Stark broadening in plasmas is presented in which the effects of broadening by ion perturbers are treated in a manner similar to the relaxation theory or unified theory for electrons. An expression is derived for Fano's broadening operator M(ω) which does not contain the projection operators or cumulants of previous forms. To obtain a calculable expression for M(ω), an approximation is made in which small, second-order fluctuation terms are replaced by their adiabatic limits. Sample calculations are presented for the first two members of the Lyman and Balmer series of hydrogen which show reasonable agreement with experiment, although the 'dip' of the β-lines is still too pronounced. (author)