radiation trapping, live — N sodium atoms in a 2D box

real-time kinetic monte-carlo · not a scripted cartoon · drag N from 1 to many
one atom shows only the 589 D-line. crowd them and two emerge: trapping (a 589 photon reabsorbed before it escapes) and pooling — Na(3p)+Na(3p) → Na(3s)+Na(3d) — which lights the 819 channel silicon wants. the 819/589 escape ratio below is measured, not asserted.
3p (excited) 3d 3s ground 589 photon 819 photon
819/589 escape ratio 0.00 589 out 0 819 out 0