The influence of magnetic fields on absorption and emission spectroscopy

Spectroscopic observations play essential roles in astrophysics. They are crucial for determining important physical parameters, providing information about the composition of various objects in the universe, as well as depicting motions in the universe. However, spectroscopic studies often do not consider the influence of magnetic fields. In this paper, we explore the influence of magnetic fields on the spectroscopic observations arising from Ground State Alignment (GSA). Synthetic spectra are generated to show the measurable changes of the spectra due to GSA. The influences of atomic alignment on absorption from DLAs, emission from H II Regions, submillimeter fine-structure lines from star forming regions are presented as examples to illustrate the effect in diffuse gas. Furthermore, we demonstrate the influence of atomic alignment on physical parameters derived from spectral line ratios, such as the alpha-to-iron ratio([X/Fe]), interstellar temperature, and ionization rate. Results in our paper show that due to GSA, magnetic fields will affect the spectra of diffuse gas with high signal-to-noise(S/N) ratio under the condition that photon-excitation is much more efficient than thermal collision.