Application of path integral formalism in spectral line broadening: Lyman-α in hydrogenic plasma

In this paper the results of Lyman-α line shapes without fine structure are rederived using a path integral formalism. The method presented here is designed to provide a quantum formalism that will treat the ions and the electrons on the same physical basis. This method also has the advantage of treating cases where the dynamical effects are present. We therefore give an expression of the dipolar autocorrelation function taking into account the ion dynamics effects. At the end, some Lyman-α lines are plotted under several conditions and compared to those obtained by other methods. This comparison checks out the validity of our approach. Note here that we do not intend to show a new result in spectral line shapes but add a contribution to the path integral formalism.