The experimental technique and the general theory of the hakenmethode (hook method or dispersion method) is reviewed. The review presents the basic experimental arrangement for the formation of hooks in a crossed interferometer-spectrometer system and the experimental parameters of importance of an f-value measurement by the hakenmethode. The significance of the complex index of refraction of a dispersive and dissipative medium and its relation to the hakenmethode technique, as applied to single- and multiple-line spectra is described in some detail. Penkin’s total absorption method for measuring absolute f values by combining the hakenmethode with absorption measurements is reviewed. A method (similar to a Voigt profile analysis) is introduced for studying the formation of hooks about spectral lines whose absorption widths may be an appreciable fraction of the hook separation.

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