Construct · 1 fields · 3 citations

Zeeman effect: a standalone construct

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Zeemaneffect1 CONSTRUCTZeeman effectZEEMAN · LINE SPLITTING

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Physics

The splitting of atomic spectral lines by a magnetic field

Pieter Zeeman first observed in 1896, and reported in English the following year, that a magnetic field splits the spectral lines an atom emits or absorbs into several closely spaced components, an effect now named after him (Zeeman, 1897). Hendrik Lorentz accounted for the simplest case with his classical theory of electrons, predicting the three-line pattern and the polarization of its components, and the two shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics (Lorentz, 1909). Many lines, however, split into more components than the classical picture allowed, the so-called anomalous Zeeman effect, which was resolved only once electron spin and quantum theory were introduced (Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit, 1926), so that each line's splitting traces the magnetic quantum numbers and the g-factor of the atomic energy levels involved. The effect is distinctive because the size of the splitting rises in proportion to the applied field, which makes it a standard way to measure magnetic fields both in the laboratory and in astrophysics, where it reveals the fields of the Sun and other stars.[1][2][3]

Unit
A field-induced splitting of a spectral line, reported as the frequency or wavelength shift of its components and proportional to magnetic field strength
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Read from emission or absorption spectra as the number, spacing, and polarization of the split line components, with the shift calibrated against the known field strength

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Nearby constructs

spin4 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, four constructsemission2 fields · 2 citationsjingle · one word, two constructscase2 fields · 3 citationsjingle · one word, two constructs

References

  1. Zeeman, P. (1897). On the influence of magnetism on the nature of the light emitted by a substance. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 43(262), 226–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786449708620985
  2. Lorentz, H. A. (1909). The theory of electrons and its applications to the phenomena of light and radiant heat. B. G. Teubner.
  3. Uhlenbeck, G. E., & Goudsmit, S. (1926). Spinning electrons and the structure of spectra. Nature, 117, 264–265. https://doi.org/10.1038/117264a0

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