Hydrogen Spectrum – Gross Structure

 The Balmer series of hydrogen. The violet line on the left is Balmer-delta at 410 (nm). The red line on the right is Balmer-alpha at 656 (nm).

Photons that are absorbed or emitted by atomic hydrogen are collectively known as the spectrum of hydrogen. This spectrum includes a wide range of ultraviolet, visible and infrared photons. They are involved in the atomic and molecular interactions of everyday experience and benchtop chemistry. Energies are typically measured in (eV) rather than (MeV).

Models of photons in the hydrogen spectrum are built exclusively from rotating and electrochemical quarks1. As required by definition, they all have a total angular momentum quantum number of $𝘑 =1$. Comparisons are made with experimental observations2,3,4,5 which are exceptionally precise! Some discern a few parts in $10^{12}$. The following models can accurately reproduce the hydrogen spectrum to only about one part in a million; that is, just the gross structure. We can determine the mechanical energy, $E$, of a hydrogen photon, $\large{\gamma}$, by first assessing its momentum. The hydrogen spectrum does not include gamma-rays, so the overall energy-scale is set by the enthalpy of any chemical quarks, $H_{chem} \,$. Then the coefficients of down quarks, $N^{\mathsf{D}}$ and ${\Delta}n^{\mathsf{D}}$, determine individual energies as

\begin{align} E \left( {\large{\gamma}} \right) = 2 \left| \, H_{chem}^{\mathcal{A}} \vphantom{{H_{chem}^{\large{\gamma}}}^{9}} \right| \cdot \left[ \frac{64}{\left( \Delta n^{\sf{D}} \right)^{2} } - \frac{64}{ \left( N^{\sf{D}} \right)^{2} } \right] \end{align}

Photons are also described by their wavelength, $\lambda _{\sf{o}}$. Here is a list of photons named after the scientists that first observed them, along with their component quarks. Note that they all share the same electrochemical-quarks because they are all associated with hydrogen.

## Other Series

These models also depend on how quarks are distributed between phase components. For that level of detail, please see the spreadsheet Bonds and Photons in the wiki-files stored here. An X indicates that a calculated result is outside of experimental uncertainty.

Related WikiMechanics articles.

page revision: 234, last edited: 10 Jun 2019 00:05