= David C. Nicholls
{c}
<David C. Nicholls> led a 2012 investigation of discrepant nebular <temperature> measurements. The paper, with <Michael A. Dopita> and <Ralph S. Sutherland>, explores a <Kappa distribution> for <electron> energies instead of imposing a <Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution>.
Different spectral diagnostics weight <electron> energies differently. Consequently, a departure from the assumed distribution can change inferred <temperatures> and abundances in different ways. The study presents the nonthermal distribution as a physical explanation to test, rather than treating agreement obtained under a changed assumption as a direct measurement of the distribution itself.<Resolving the electron temperature discrepancies in H II regions and planetary nebulae: kappa-distributed electrons by David C. Nicholls and others>[Abstract: alternative electron distribution and consequences for temperature and abundance diagnostics]{ref}
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