We found the line absorption coefficient by studying a damped harmonic oscillator and saw

how its polarizability is connected to the absorption (through the imaginary part).
Likewise, we can get the scattering response of an atom to an infalling EM-field – an accel-
erated charge is a classical radiator of EM radiation. From the Larmor formula we get the
radiated power
¨2
|d|
6π 0 c3
¨ 2 = q 2 · |ẍ|2 = q 2 ẍ · ẍ∗ . Remember that x = x0 eiω t , ẍ = −ω 2 x and x0 =
where |d|
q
E /(ω02 − ω 2 − iγω), so
m 0

¨ 2 = q 2 ẍ ẍ∗ = q 2 (−ω 2 )2 ( q 2 1 2 q4ω4 1

|d| ) 2 2 2 2 2
< E >= 2 2 2 2 2 2
< E2 >
m (ωo − ω ) + γ ω m (ωo − ω ) + γ ω

Inserting this into the Larmor formula (and using the electron charge for q) we have

e4 ω 4 1
Pemitted = < E2 >
6π 0 c m (ωo − ω )2 + γ 2 ω 2
3 2 2 2

In a scattering process we have seen that the emitted radiation is what is lost from the
incoming radiation, so
dIω Pemitted
σω = − =
Iω Pinfalling
and Pinfalling = c0 < E2 >. So,

e4 ω 4 1
σω = 2 4
6π 0 c m (ωo − ω )2 + γ 2 ω 2
2 2 2

2
Here it can be useful to introduce the classical electron radius, re = 4π10 mee c2 (obtained by
equating the rest-mass-energy of an electron with the potential energy in the electric field
at a distance re ). It is about 3 10−15 m.
8π 2 4 1 4 1
σω = re ω = σT ω
3 (ωo2 − ω 2 )2 + γ 2 ω 2 (ωo2 − ω 2 )2 + γ 2 ω 2
where σT = 6.65 10−29 m2 is the Thomson cross-section.
Now, depending on the frequency of the infalling radiation in relation to the resonance
frequency of the electron we get some different cases:

• if ω  ω0 then the denominator is basically ω04 and the cross-section scales as the
frequency to the fourth power. We recognize this as Rayleigh scattering.

• if ω  ω0 or when ω0 = 0 then the denominator is basically ω 4 and the cross-section

becomes the Thomson cross-section. This is then valid for free electrons and also for
very energetic photons (which “see” the bound electron as free since the binding energy
is much smaller than their energy). Note however that for very energetic photons we
will get Compton scattering. More on that later.

1
 • when ω ' ω0 we can write the denominator as

(ω − ω0 )2 (ω + ω0 )2 + γ 2 ω 2 = (ω − ω0 )2 4ω02 + γ 2 ω02 = ω02 ( 4(ω − ω0 )2 + γ 2 )

and the cross-section for the interaction of radiation with an electron near the resonance
frequency of the electron (i.e. a spectral line in scattering) can be written:

σT ω02 1
σω = f
4 (ω − ω0 )2 + (γ/2)2
Here f is a quantum mechanical correction factor accounting for the strength of the
transition, the so-called oscillator strength. It is closely related to the Einstein A
coefficient.
The oscillator strength also appears in the expression for the line absorption cross-
section.

free-free emission and absorption

We will see that free-free emission (thermal bremsstrahlung) from H ii-regions and planetary
nebulae are useful diagnostics, especially in the radio region.
If we let an electron pass by an ion with charge Ze (i.e Z = 1 if the ion is a proton) with the
speed v and so that the closest distance to the ion is b (the so-called impact parameter).
For each b and v we get the contribution to the free-free emission 2π b db E(b, v). We then
integrate from bmin to bmax (these limits are quite complicated to find) and then we also
integrate over all the speeds of the colliding electrons (and noting that these are almost
always Maxwell-distributed and also that there is a minimum speed for the electron: its
kinetic energy must be larger than the emitted radiation).
To get the total emitted bremsstrahlung, f-f emission, per volume we finally multiply with
the ion and electron densities and get an expression for jffν :

4π jνff = 6.84 10−51 Z 2 ne nion T −1/2 e−hν/kT gff (W/m3 )

gff is a quantum mechanical correction factor of order unity, the so-called Gaunt factor. The
factor (inverse square root of temperature) comes from the electron speed – “the slower
the electron the more time for ff emission”, the exponential factor comes from the Maxwell
distribution.

To do the above in a little more detail, we note that the electron is accelerated by the ion
due to the electric force,

−Ze2 −Ze2
F= r̂ a= r̂
4π0 r2 4π0 r2 m
The total emitted power is, from the Larmor formula, (from an electron with speed v, impact
parameter b)
Z ∞ Z ∞
e2
E(b, v) = P (t) dt = 3
a(t)2 dt
−∞ 6π 0 c −∞

2
which can be thought of as the result of an acceleration amax during the collision time (b/v).
amax is found by putting r = b. So,

2 Z 2 e6
E(b, v) =
3 (4π0 )3 c3 m2 b3 v
For a given b, we get less radiation from fast electrons; they spend less time close to the
ion). Most of the radiation is emitted at a “typical frequency” given by 1/collision-time, i.e.
v/b:
v v v
ω = 2π ν ' ν' db = | |dν
b 2π b 2π ν 2
For a flux of electrons with speed v and density ne we get the power radiated per ion at a
distance b in db:

v v 2 Z 2 e6 2πν 3
Pem (ν, v) = 2π b db ne v E(b, v) = 2π( )( 2
) n e v 3 3 2
( ) dν
2πν 2πν 3 (4π0 ) c m v v
8π 2 Z 2 e6 ne
Pem (ν, v) = 3 3 2
dν
3 (4π0 ) c m v
No frequency-dependence. The fewer collisions at small b’s emit more per collision than the
more numerous collisions at larger distances; these compensate to yield a flat spectrum (up
to the high-frequency cut-off).
When allowing the electrons to have a distribution of speeds (almost always the Maxwellian)
we the result quoted above:

4π jνff = 6.84 10−51 Z 2 ne nion T −1/2 e−hν/kT gff (W/m3 )

To get the absorption coefficient we use Kirchhoff’s law, and note that free-free emis-
sion/absorption is a thermal process, so the source function must be the Planck function.

jνff
ανff = = cnst Z 2 ne ni T −1/2 ν −3 (1 − e−hν/kT ) gff
Bν (T )
The f-f absorption/emission is most important for long wavelengths, in the infrared and radio
regions. Then we can use the Rayleigh-Jeans approximation of the Planck function and get

ανff = cst Z 2 ne ni T −3/2 ν −2 gff

To examplify the use of the f-f absorption coefficient, let us consider the continuous absorp-
tion/emission in a H ii-region.
How will the spectrum from a H ii-region look in the radio region? To simplify things we
assume that the region is homogeneous and isothermal so that the source function is constant
for the whole region; also, in the IR and radio region we can replace the Planck function
with the Rayleigh-Jeans expression:
2kT 2
Sν = Bν (T ) = ν
c2
3
The absorption coefficient is given above, so the expression for the optical depth will be:
Z L
τν = ανff ds = cnst n2e L ν −2 = cnst EM ν −2
0

L is the length of a path through the region, and EM – the emission measure – is defined as
a length times the electron density squared (it is as the name suggests a measure of the total
emission along an optically thin path); in interstellar contexts it is often given in m−6 pc.
The reason why we have electron density squared is that the ion density and the electron
density are often about equal (since hydrogen is so much more abundant than other elements
and we get one ion and one electron when it is ionized).
From the solution of the equation of radiative transfer with a constant source function, we
have two limiting cases:

• Iν = Sν for the optically thick case, and therefore Iν ∝ ν 2 .

• Iν = Sν · τν for the optically thin case, and therefore Iν ∝ ν −0.1 if we also consider the
weak frequency dependence of the Gaunt factor (∝ ν −0.1 ).

The turn-over from the optically thick part where the intensity increases with frequency to
the flat part for the optically thin frequencies gives the frequency where the optical depth
through the H ii-region is about unity. This frequency often is some hundreds or thousands
of MHz or wavelengths of a few meters or less.