Influence of BBR-Induced Level Mixing Effect on Cosmological Recombination of Hydrogen and Singly Ionized Helium Atoms

An effect of atomic line broadening induced by the blackbody radiation (BBR) is investigated. Two physically different processes that affect the line broadening are compared within the framework of quantum electrodynamics (QED): the stimulated Raman scattering and BBR-induced level mixing. It is shown that the mixing effect gives the most significant contribution to the line broadening. According to our analysis, it is possible to distinguish both effects in the laboratory experiments. The impact of BBR-induced level mixing on the recombination history of primordial hydrogen and singly ionized helium atoms is discussed.