The Structure ofHαof Hydrogen

Abstract

The structure of the lines of the Balmer spectrum of hydrogen was a subject of investigation in this laboratory some years ago. Recently we have attacked the problem again, using two Lummer plates, not "crossed" as in the paper of Kent, Taylor and Pearson,* but dispersing in the same plane. With this arrangement, the microphotometer curves of the resultant pattern reveal clearly four distinct components of Ha with intensities and positions roughly as given by theory. There are no ghosts in the Lummer plates and the interference of lines of the secondary spectrum of hydrogen has been eliminated.We are now engaged in obtaining quantitatively the intensity and position of these components.We feel that this method (new, as far as we know) may be of service in the study of the hyperfine structure of the spectrum lines of other elements.