Notes for lectures in China: distribution of the oscillator strength over the entire range of excitation energy for atoms, molecules, and solids

Consider the intensity of absorption of a photon (i.e., the photoabsorption cross section) as a function of photon energy E. Apart from some intensity related to pure nuclear motion and spins, the (electronic) absorption begins at several eV (i.e., in the visible region or the near ultraviolet region). It becomes stronger at tens of eV's (i.e., in the far ultraviolet), and gradually diminishes at higher E. However, the intensity enhances again as E becomes comparable to an inner-shell binding energy. This repeats throughout the x-ray region until E greatly exceeds the K-shell binding energy. I shall discuss the gross variation of the absorption intensity with E. This intensity, suitably normalized, is the oscillator-strength distribution df/dE