Shift and width of the Balmer-α and Lyman-β lines of neutral hydrogen due to electron collisions

The contribution from electron scattering to the width and shift of the ${\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{\alpha }}$ and ${\mathrm{Ly}}_{\mathrm{\beta }}$ lines of neutral hydrogen is evaluated. Elements of the S matrix for electron-atom scattering calculations are obtained from close-coupling calculations including pseudostates, either of the variational or the optical potential type. The convergence of sums over angular-momentum variables is discussed. Results are compared with some other calculations and with experiment where possible.