Forbidden-line density diagnostics do not measure a single nebular density but selectively sample a broad unresolved density PDF, producing a universal hierarchy log ne,obs ≈ 0.3 log n_M + const.
7 Narrow-PDF model validation.Probability density distributions of log 10 ne recovered by each diagnostic from a forward model identical to that of Extended Data Fig
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There is no single density: star-forming regions and galaxies hold more dense ionized gas than long assumed
Forbidden-line density diagnostics do not measure a single nebular density but selectively sample a broad unresolved density PDF, producing a universal hierarchy log ne,obs ≈ 0.3 log n_M + const.