Relative Energy Measurements in theKSeries of Argon

Abstract

The relative positions of the principal features of the emission and absorption spectra of argon in its $K$ series have been measured. The energy difference between the $K$-series Rydberg limit and the peak of $K{\beta }_{1,3}$ is compared with the optical ionization potential. Location of the $K$-series limit via the experimental ionization potential leads to new values for the $L_{\mathrm{II}}$ and $L_{\mathrm{III}}$ terms from measurements of $K{\alpha }_2$ and $K{\alpha }_1$. These are in reasonable agreement with Hartree-Fock calculations, and with recent grating measurements from other laboratories and single-crystal measurements newly reported here.