Dicke narrowing for rigid spheres of arbitrary mass ratio - art. no. 012701

There is a need in spectral line shapes for a realistic treatment of the tr anslational motion in the case of arbitrary ratio of the mass of the pertur ber to the mass of the active molecule. Here we use a one-dimensional rigid -sphere collision kernel to determine the translational motion. By discreti zing the velocity we are able to exploit the analogy between Dicke narrowin g and line mixing. The validity of using a one-dimensional versus three-dim ensional kernel is explored. A comparison of the results with the well-know n soft and hard collision models is also carried out.