Abstract
The note deals with the absorption of a band in which the lines have the dispersion form; the effect of the overlapping of neighboring lines upon the absorption is taken into account. The analytical problem can be solved for a periodic pattern of lines with equal intensity , width and distance from each other. Simple expressions are derived for the limiting cases of small (formula (8)) and large . In the latter case the transmission by a layer of thickness is given by It appears that this formula gives a fairly good mean approximation even for small values of , while the true transmission in this case is not exponential. It is shown that in problems of radiative transfer and radiative equilibria this approximate formula for the transmission can be used; i.e. the factor of in the above exponent may be substituted in the equations of transfer as equivalent of a mean absorption coefficient.
- Received 23 May 1938
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.54.126
©1938 American Physical Society