Experimental widths of high‐n hydrogen Balmer lines Hn (n =6 —12), emitted from a radio‐frequency discharge (T = 1850 K and Ne =1.2 × 1013 cm—3 ), are systematically lower (up to 20%) than predicted by the Kepple‐Griem (KG) line broadening theory [1]. This motivated a new theoretical analysis for Stark broadening of hydrogen lines allowing for direct and indirect couplings of the electron and ion microfields, as well as developing a rigorous analytical treatment of the ion dynamics. The theory was applied in two versions: one — using conventional, statistical intensities of Stark components, and another — using dynamical intensities accounting for the lifetime of the substate. It was found that while both versions are in a better agreement with the experiment than the KG theory, the dynamical‐intensity version results in the best agreement: its rms discrepancy with the experimental widths was 5%.
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