Lyman alpha Definition and 9 Threads

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Into an extra-galactic physics course, I don't understand well the "Gunn - Peterson" effect on the spectrum of high redshift quasars (z greater than 3 or 4, up to the current limit of z = 6-7 I think) The observed fact is that there is an almost total absorption for the photons of the blue part...

Hi, I'm currently trying to wrap my head around how the Ly-α forest works. This is what I have so far; A distant quasar produces these Ly-α photons, which occur when a hydrogen's electron drops from n=2 to n=1, and has a wavelength of around 121nm (depending on the exact transition). This...

Hello everyone! We observe the so-called Lyman-alpha forest in the spectrum of distant quasars and it is said that these multiple absorption lines are due to the presence of intergalactic HI clouds that absorb light at the wavelenght of 1216 A , the Lyman-alpha transition. My question is the...

I am trying to calculate the Lyman-alpha wavelengths of photons emitted from different hydrogen-like atoms such as deuterium and positive helium ion 4He+, using the relation 1/λ = R*|1/ni^2 - 1/nf^2|, where R is the Rydberg constant and ni and nf are integer numbers corresponding to the initial...

I'm a computer scientist who was recently given a book about quantum physics. I am confused about something in the book. Imagine shining an x-ray (produced by copper K alpha 1 emission) on an aluminium foil. I understand the basics of photoelectric effect. You shine the x-ray on target aluminium...

I am interested in what the recoil velocity of an initially stationary hydrogen atom in free space would be when it emits a Lyman alpha photon. I tried to do the calc and got about 3 metres per second which seems rather high.

A few questions about the solar Lyman Alpha profile as presented here. 1) This is from a 1978 study - are there more recent (higher resolution) profiles ? 2) The scale at the bottom is confusing - how does it relate to a wavelength scale ? 3) Where in the profile is the actual Lyman alpha line...

I was wondering how the distribution of Lyman alpha absorbers (as seen in the "forest" of absorption lines of a quasar spectrum) varies with red-shift (corresponding to evolution with the age of the universe). I've found various sources which mention in passing that the frequency of absorbers...