.orgWe report on a rather remarkable and surprizing result in the distribution of emission lines (in the observed frame) in the spectra of quasars. We converted to observed frame 14277 rest frame emission lines listed in the Hewitt and Burbidge (1993) quasar catalog. When a histogram is plotted with frequency of an emission line against the wavelength, 37 very strong peaks are found. We were further surprised to find 27 of these 37 lines in the spectra of Wolf-Rayet stars. An additional 5 lines are seen in novae like stars. Further, one more line is possible in Wolf-Rayet stars. In the redshift hypothesis there is no reason why the emission lines in the observed frame should show these peaks. Thus the redshift hypothesis is unable to account for these peaks.
Theoretical and experimental investigations in physics in the 1960’s and 1970’s showed that when a high temperature plasma rapidly expands (for example, in vacuum) the resulting cooling leads to a population inversion in the lower levels of the atom, and this can lead to laser action.
This led Varshni (1975, ApSS 37, L1; 1977, ApSS 46, 443; 1979 Phys.Canada 35, 11) to propose that a quasar is a star in which the surface plasma is undergoing rapid radial expansion giving rise to population inversion and laser action in some of the atomic species. The assumption of the ejection of matter from quasars at high speed is supported from the fact that the widths of emission spectral lines observed in quasars are typically of the order of 2000 - 4000 km/sec. The ejected matter can form a nebulosity around the quasar or dissipate into space. Laser action is enhanced if the hot plasma contacts this colder gas.
No redshifts are needed. This model is called the plasma-laser star (PLAST) model. Most of the observational evidence on quasars either supports this theory or is consistent with it. The existence of the wavelength peaks can be readily understood on this theory. It is known that some atomic transitions are more susceptible to laser action than others. The peaks correspond to such transitions and such lines occur more often in quasar spectra.
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