absorption occurs in a broad optical band and brings the center in a high vibrat

ional level of the excited state. the center returns frist to the lowest vibrati
onal level of the excited state giving up the excess energy to the surroundings.
another way to describe this process is to say that the nuclei adjust their pos
itions to the new (excited) situation, so that the interatomic destances equal t
he equilibrium distances belonging to the excited state. the configurational coo
rdinate changes by X. this proces is called relaxation
during relaxation there ocurs usually no emission, and certainly not of high int
ensity. this can be easily seen from the rates involved: whereas a very fast emi
ssion has a rate of 10s, the vibrational rate is about 10s
from the lowest vibrational level of the excited state the system can return to
the ground state spontaneously (in the absence of a radiation field), whereas ab
sorption can only occur when a radiation field is present. the reverse process o
f absorption is simulated emission and not spontaneous emission
by emission, the center reaches a high vibrational level of the ground state. ag
ain relaxation occurs, but now to the lowest vibrational level of the ground sta
te. the emission occurs at a lower energy than the absorption due to the relaxat
ion process