K-H_2_ line shapes for cool brown dwarfs spectra

The opacity in the red optical to near-IR region under these conditions is dominated by the extremely pressure-broadened wings of the alkali resonance lines, in particular, the KI resonance doublet at 0.77um. Collisions with H_2_ are preponderant in brown dwarf atmospheres at an effective temperature of about 1000K; the H_2_ perturber densities reach several 10^19^ even in Jupiter-mass planets and exceed 10^20^ for super-Jupiters and older Y dwarfs.

As a consequence, it appears that when the far wing absorption due to alkali atoms in a dense H_2_ atmosphere is significant, accurate pressure broadened profiles that are valid at high densities of H_2_ should be incorporated into spectral models.