The asymmetry of Ly-α and Ly-β

The asymmetry of the first two spectral lines of the Lyman series of hydrogen is calculated. Detailed profiles, which include the effects of time ordering and asymmetry, are presented for a region of the line profile from the center to the line wings, where the impact approximation for the electrons and the quasi static approximation for ions are reasonably applicable. Deviations in the line wings from “Unified theories” are of the order 0–15% for the profile parameter range considered. Such deviations should have only a minor effect on the computed asymmetry.The far red wing of both Ly-α and Ly-β is seen to dominate the blue wing. In the near wings the blue intensity becomes equal to the red intensity. From here into the line center, the blue intensity is larger than the red intensity. In the case of Ly-β, there is the expected enhancement of the blue peak and reduction of the red peak.The calculated profiles are compared with previous calculations and recent experimental results.