Paschen-Back effect

[ pah-shuhn-bahk ]

noun

, Physics.

1. a splitting of spectral lines observed when the source of a radiation is subjected to a strong magnetic field, caused when the vectors associated with the spin and orbital angular momentum exhibit individual rather than common precession.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Paschen-Back effect¹

1920–25; named after Friedrich Paschen (1865–1947) and Ernst Back (1881–1959), German physicists