Doppler Broadening - Applications and Caveats

Applications and Caveats

In astronomy and plasma physics, the thermal Doppler broadening is one of the explanations for the broadening of spectral lines, and as such gives an indication for the temperature of observed material. It should be noted, though, that other causes of velocity distributions may exist, e.g., due to turbulent motion. For a fully developed turbulence, the resulting line profile is generally very difficult to distinguish from the thermal one. Another cause could be a large range of macroscopic velocities resulting, e.g., from the receding and approaching portions of a rapidly spinning accretion disk. Finally, there are many other factors which can also broaden the lines. For example, a sufficiently high particle number density may lead to significant Stark broadening.