Absolute Intensities of the Discrete and Continuous Absorption Bands of Oxygen Gas at 1.26 and 1.065 μ and the Radiative Lifetime of the 1Δg State of Oxygen

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Abstract
Laboratory measurements have been made of the absolute intensities of the discrete‐line absorption band at 1.26 μ, and of the continuous bands at 1.26 and 1.065 μ in oxygen gas at pressures up to 4.3 atm. It has been shown that discrete and continuous absorptions are quite independent features, the one being a measure of the intrinsic transition probability in isolated molecules, the other of its enhancement in collision complexes. In the former the lines show significant pressure broadening, but the integral molecular absorption coefficients are constant; in the latter they are proportional to pressure and continuous absorption dominates in the 1.26‐μ region at about ½ atm oxygen pressure. The radiative half‐life of isolated 1Δg oxygen molecules is estimated to be 45 min, and the effect of gas pressure on the rate of decay has been predicted.