Excitation temperature

Excitation temperature is a concept used in atomic and molecular physics to describe the distribution of energy states among particles, particularly in systems that are in thermal equilibrium. It is a way to characterize the population of excited states of atoms or molecules in a gas or plasma. When dealing with a collection of atoms or molecules, each species can occupy different energy levels, including both ground and excited states. The excitation temperature provides a useful statistical measure, relating the average energy of the excited states to a temperature scale.