Spectral Line Shapes in Plasmas

Line-shape analysis is one of the most important tools for diagnostics of both laboratory and space plasmas. Its reliable implementation requires sufficiently accurate calculations which imply the use of analytic methods and computer codes of varying complexity and necessarily varying limits of applicability and accuracy. However studies comparing different computational and analytic methods are almost non-existent. The Spectral Line Shapes in Plasma (SLSP) code comparison workshop series [1] was established to fill this gap. Numerous computational cases considered in the two workshops organized to date (in April 2012 and August 2013 in Vienna Austria) not only serve the purpose of code comparison but also have applications in research of magnetic fusion astrophysical laserproduced plasmas and so on. Therefore although the first workshop was briefly reviewed elsewhere [2] and will likely be followed by a review of the second one it was unanimously decided by the participants that a volume devoted to results of the workshops was desired. It is the main purpose of this special issue.