Spin doublets in x-ray satellite spectra

The procedure adopted by Deodhar and Rai (J. Phys. B.; 2: 1402 (1969)) for sorting out spin doublets in x-ray satellite spectra has been critically examined. It has been demonstrated that though spin doublets follow the two rules regarding the constancy of wavelength separation and linearity of (deltaupsilon/R)sup(1/4) against Z, the converse is not always true. It is pointed out that some of the spin doublets reported by Deodhar and Rai are spurious and it is suggested that efforts should be made to find other physically meaningful criteria for establishing the existence of spin doublets in x-ray satellites which, hopefully, may throw light on the origin of x-ray satellites. (author)