Analysis of laser light scattered by cold, dense hydrogen plasmas produced in a Z pinch

Scattering of ruby laser radiation on cold, dense hydrogen plasmas (1.5 eV≤T e ≤4 eV, 3.5×101 7 cm− 3≤N e ≤2×101 8 cm− 3) shows, in addition to the Thomson component, a contribution of light which is scattered by excited hydrogen atoms on the wing of the Hα transition. This Rayleigh component is compared with a theoretical model based on the assumption that the n=2 level is in partial local thermodynamic equilibrium with the continuum.