Experimental Investigation of Stark Broadening inHα

The profiles of the Balmer lines ${\mathrm{H}}_{\alpha }$ and ${\mathrm{H}}_{\beta }$, emitted in a vortex-cooled hydrogen arc, were measured over a temperature range of (1.0-1.6) × ${10}^4$ ° K and an electron density range of (0.6-1.6) × ${10}^{17}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{-3\mathrm{}}$. The observed ${\mathrm{H}}_{\alpha }$ profiles are compared with the recent theoretical calculations of Kepple and Griem (from which the electron densities were inferred via the ${\mathrm{H}}_{\beta }$ half-widths), and those of Bacon and Edwards. The experimental and theoretical profiles are found to agree within their respective uncertainties although systematic differences are observed.