Time-resolved spectrographic techniques were used to obtain the profiles of A II lines emitted from a laboratory plasma. For the dense, low-temperature plasma studied, most of the broadening of the observed lines results from interactions of the emitter with free charges in the surrounding plasma. The plasma was created by discharging a previously- charged lumped-parameter delay line through a specially- constructed vessel containing an argon-hydrogen mixture. By means of a rotating-mirror shutter, light from the discharge was admitted to the spectrograph during a time interval when the intensity of the A II lines was constant to within about 10%. This time interval was chosen after monitoring the time dependence of the intensity of several A II lines with a monochromator-photomultiplier combination. A calibration spectrum was also obtained with a seven-step neutral density wedge in order to determine the response of the photographic emulsion. Of the twenty-four measureable A II lines recorded, fourteen yielded profiles which could be treated by a Voigt analysis. In this way the profiles could be corrected for the effects of instrumental and Doppler broadening. The electron number density was determined from the widths of the lines in multiplet 6 of the A II spectrum, previously measured by other workers. The results indicate considerable disagreement with the original theory of line broadening as developed by Griem and his co-workers. The half-widths of the lines reported here are up to 4.0 times wider than predicted theoretically. The line shapes appear to be Voigt functions, rather than the predicted Lorentzian profiles. The measurements are in good agreement with those of other workers, where comparisons could be made. Measurements of some of the lines reported here do not appear to have been published elsewhere. / Science, Faculty of / Physics and Astronomy, Department of / Graduate

Relative transition probabilities were measured for several transitions in the visible ArII spectrum. An argon-nitrogen pulsed arc of duration 90 μsec, with electron densities of 2.3 x 10¹⁷ cm⁻³ and electron temperature of 2.6 ev, was used as a source of radiation. Measurements were performed with photographic diagnostics and a rotating-mirror shutter system. The fourteen values of relative transition probabilities obtained agreed reasonably well with previous measurements. / Science, Faculty of / Physics and Astronomy, Department of / Graduate

The objectives of this work are twofold: firstly, to understand the inductively coupled argon plasma (icp) from a fundamental point of view and, secondly, to attempt to put that knowledge to practical use. In an effort to realize this first objective, a simple two-level rate model was developed which allows the estimation of the deviations (due to radiative decay) of analyte level populations in the icp from local thermodynamic equilibrium (lte). The results were found to agree very well with experiment for analyte elements (Fe, Cr and Ba) which did not exhibit charge transfer with the argon support gas. A comprehensive study of magnesium excited-state level populations was performed. It was found that charge transfer between argon ions and ground state magnesium atoms caused ionic magnesium to be overpopulated (with respect to the simple rate model calculations mentioned above). It was also found that, due to appreciable self-absorption, argon itself conforms to an lte model. Electron temperatures (Te) were measured in the icp. It was found that, for electron densities greater than about 2x10¹⁵ cm⁻³, Te was within experimental uncertainty of the so-called lte temperature (Te,lte - calculated from the electron density). At lower electron densities, due to the large experimental errors involved, it was difficult to draw definitive conclusions regarding their agreement. The plasma was also extensively characterized when an extra argon flow was added to the aerosol gas. It was found that at low values of the aerosol gas flow rate, mixing between it and the plasma gas was relatively complete, whereas at higher flow rates there was relatively little mixing. It was also found that the introduction of water into the plasma had a limited effect on sample excitation. In order to fulfil the second objective, a method was developed to simulate emission spectra from an icp. The method involved the use of a computer program, which worked by combining basic physical data for atomic species, the results of icp fundamental studies, and a realistic instrumental line profile (described in detail). The method was used to simulate a hypothetical silver determination in NBS coal fly ash showing the effects of spectrometer bandpass, silver concentration, and line choice on spectral overlaps. / Science, Faculty of / Chemistry, Department of / Graduate

Spectroscopic orbital elements and/or related parameters have been determined for eight binary systems, using radial-velocity measurements that have a typical precision of about 15 ms⁻¹. The orbital periods of these systems range from about 10 days to 26 years, with a median of about 6 years. Orbital solutions were determined for the seven systems with shorter periods. The measurement of the mass ratio of the longest-period system, HD217166, demonstrates that this important astrophysical quantity can be estimated in a model-free manner with less than 10% of the orbital cycle observed spectroscopically.\\ Single-lined orbital solutions have been derived for five of the binaries. Two of these systems are astrometric binaries: β Ret and ν Oct. The other SB1 systems were 94 Aqr A, θ Ant, and the 10-day system, HD159656. The preliminary spectroscopic solution for θ Ant (P~18 years), is the first one derived for this system. The improvement to the precision achieved for the elements of the other four systems was typically between 1--2 orders of magnitude. The very high precision with which the spectroscopic solution for HD159656 has been measured should allow an investigation into possible apsidal motion in the near future. In addition to the variable radial velocity owing to its orbital motion, the K-giant, ν Oct, has been found to have an additional long-term irregular periodicity, attributed, for the time being, to the rotation of a large surface feature.\\ Double-lined solutions were obtained for HD206804 (K7V+K7V), which previously had two competing astrometric solutions but no spectroscopic solution, and a newly discovered seventh-magnitude system, HD181958 (F6V+F7V). This latter system has the distinction of having components and orbital characteristics whose study should be possible with present ground-based interferometers. All eight of the binary systems have had their mass ratio and the masses of their components estimated.\\ The following comments summarize the motivation for getting these results, and the manner in which the research was carried out. \\ The majority of stars exist in binary systems rather than singly as does the Sun. These systems provide astronomers with the most reliable and proven means to determine many of the fundamental properties of stars. One of these properties is the stellar mass, which is regarded as being the most important of all, since most other stellar characteristics are very sensitive to the mass. Therefore, empirical masses, combined with measurements of other stellar properties, such as radii and luminosities, are an excellent test for competing models of stellar structure and evolution.\\ Binary stars also provide opportunities to observe and investigate many extraordinary astrophysical processes that do not occur in isolated stars. These processes often arise as a result of direct and indirect interactions between the components, when they are sufficiently close to each other. Some of the interactions are relatively passive, such as the circularization of the mutual orbits, whilst others result from much more active processes, such as mass exchange leading to intense radiation emissions. \\ A complete understanding of a binary system's orbital characteristics, as well as the measurement of the all-important stellar masses, is almost always only achieved after the binary system has been studied using two or more complementary observing techniques. Two of the suitable techniques are astrometry and spectroscopy. In favourable circumstances, astrometry can deduce the angular dimensions of the orbit, the total mass of the system, and sometimes, its distance from us. Spectroscopy, on the other hand, can determine the linear scale of the orbit and the ratio of the stellar masses, based on the changing radial velocities of both stars. When a resolved astrometric orbital solution is also available, the velocities of both stars can allow the binary system's parallax to be determined, and the velocities of one star can provide a measure of the system mass ratio.\\ Unfortunately, relatively few binary systems are suited to these complementary studies. Underlying this difficulty are the facts that, typically, astrometrically-determined orbits favour those with periods of years or decades, whereas spectroscopic orbital solutions are more often measured for systems with periods of days to months. With the development of high-resolution astrometric and spectroscopic techniques in recent years, it is hoped that many more binary systems will be amenable to these complementary strategies.\\ Several months after this thesis began, a high-resolution spectrograph, HERCULES, commenced operations at the Mt John University Observatory, to be used in conjuction with the 1-metre McLellan telescope. For late-type stars, the anticipated velocity precision was ≲10 ms⁻¹. The primary goals of this thesis were: 1.~to assess the performance of HERCULES and the related reduction software that subsequently followed, 2.~to carry out an observational programme of 20 or so binary systems, and 3.~to determine the orbital and stellar parameters which characterize some of these systems. The particular focus was on those binaries that have resolved or unresolved astrometric orbital solutions, which therefore may be suited to complementary investigations.\\ HERCULES was used to acquire spectra of the programme stars, usually every few weeks, over a timespan of about three years. High-resolution spectra were acquired for the purpose of measuring precise radial velocities of the stars. When possible, orbital solutions were derived from these velocities, using the method of differential corrections.

Spectroscopic orbital elements and/or related parameters have been determined for eight binary systems, using radial-velocity measurements that have a typical precision of about 15 ms⁻¹. The orbital periods of these systems range from about 10 days to 26 years, with a median of about 6 years. Orbital solutions were determined for the seven systems with shorter periods. The measurement of the mass ratio of the longest-period system, HD217166, demonstrates that this important astrophysical quantity can be estimated in a model-free manner with less than 10% of the orbital cycle observed spectroscopically.\\ Single-lined orbital solutions have been derived for five of the binaries. Two of these systems are astrometric binaries: β Ret and ν Oct. The other SB1 systems were 94 Aqr A, θ Ant, and the 10-day system, HD159656. The preliminary spectroscopic solution for θ Ant (P~18 years), is the first one derived for this system. The improvement to the precision achieved for the elements of the other four systems was typically between 1--2 orders of magnitude. The very high precision with which the spectroscopic solution for HD159656 has been measured should allow an investigation into possible apsidal motion in the near future. In addition to the variable radial velocity owing to its orbital motion, the K-giant, ν Oct, has been found to have an additional long-term irregular periodicity, attributed, for the time being, to the rotation of a large surface feature.\\ Double-lined solutions were obtained for HD206804 (K7V+K7V), which previously had two competing astrometric solutions but no spectroscopic solution, and a newly discovered seventh-magnitude system, HD181958 (F6V+F7V). This latter system has the distinction of having components and orbital characteristics whose study should be possible with present ground-based interferometers. All eight of the binary systems have had their mass ratio and the masses of their components estimated.\\ The following comments summarize the motivation for getting these results, and the manner in which the research was carried out. \\ The majority of stars exist in binary systems rather than singly as does the Sun. These systems provide astronomers with the most reliable and proven means to determine many of the fundamental properties of stars. One of these properties is the stellar mass, which is regarded as being the most important of all, since most other stellar characteristics are very sensitive to the mass. Therefore, empirical masses, combined with measurements of other stellar properties, such as radii and luminosities, are an excellent test for competing models of stellar structure and evolution.\\ Binary stars also provide opportunities to observe and investigate many extraordinary astrophysical processes that do not occur in isolated stars. These processes often arise as a result of direct and indirect interactions between the components, when they are sufficiently close to each other. Some of the interactions are relatively passive, such as the circularization of the mutual orbits, whilst others result from much more active processes, such as mass exchange leading to intense radiation emissions. \\ A complete understanding of a binary system's orbital characteristics, as well as the measurement of the all-important stellar masses, is almost always only achieved after the binary system has been studied using two or more complementary observing techniques. Two of the suitable techniques are astrometry and spectroscopy. In favourable circumstances, astrometry can deduce the angular dimensions of the orbit, the total mass of the system, and sometimes, its distance from us. Spectroscopy, on the other hand, can determine the linear scale of the orbit and the ratio of the stellar masses, based on the changing radial velocities of both stars. When a resolved astrometric orbital solution is also available, the velocities of both stars can allow the binary system's parallax to be determined, and the velocities of one star can provide a measure of the system mass ratio.\\ Unfortunately, relatively few binary systems are suited to these complementary studies. Underlying this difficulty are the facts that, typically, astrometrically-determined orbits favour those with periods of years or decades, whereas spectroscopic orbital solutions are more often measured for systems with periods of days to months. With the development of high-resolution astrometric and spectroscopic techniques in recent years, it is hoped that many more binary systems will be amenable to these complementary strategies.\\ Several months after this thesis began, a high-resolution spectrograph, HERCULES, commenced operations at the Mt John University Observatory, to be used in conjuction with the 1-metre McLellan telescope. For late-type stars, the anticipated velocity precision was ≲10 ms⁻¹. The primary goals of this thesis were: 1.~to assess the performance of HERCULES and the related reduction software that subsequently followed, 2.~to carry out an observational programme of 20 or so binary systems, and 3.~to determine the orbital and stellar parameters which characterize some of these systems. The particular focus was on those binaries that have resolved or unresolved astrometric orbital solutions, which therefore may be suited to complementary investigations.\\ HERCULES was used to acquire spectra of the programme stars, usually every few weeks, over a timespan of about three years. High-resolution spectra were acquired for the purpose of measuring precise radial velocities of the stars. When possible, orbital solutions were derived from these velocities, using the method of differential corrections.