Energy levels, radiative rates, and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in OVII

Aims.
In this paper we report calculations for energy levels, radiative rates, and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in O vii.
Methods.
The grasp (general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package) is adopted for calculating energy levels and radiative
rates. For determining the collision strengths and subsequently the excitation rates, the Dirac atomic R-matrix code (darc) and the
flexible atomic code (fac) are used.
Results.
Oscillator strengths, radiative rates, and line strengths are reported for all E1, E2, M1, and M2 transitions among the lowest
49 levels of O vii. Collision strengths have been averaged over a Maxwellian velocity distribution, and the resulting effective collision
strengths are reported over a wide temperature range below 2 × 106 K. Additionally, lifetimes are also listed for all levels.
Key words.

Radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for H-like Fe XXVI

Aims. In this paper we report on calculations for energy levels, radiative rates, collision strengths, and effective collision strengths for transitions among the lowest 25 levels of the n $\le$ 5 configurations of H-like Fe XXVI.
Methods. The general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package (GRASP) and Dirac atomic R-matrix code (DARC) are adopted for the calculations.
Results. Radiative rates, oscillator strengths, and line strengths are reported for all electric dipole (E1), magnetic dipole (M1), electric quadrupole (E2), and magnetic quadrupole (M2) transitions among the 25 levels. Furthermore, collision strengths and effective collision strengths are reported for all the 300 transitions among the above 25 levels over a wide energy (temperature) range up to 1500 Ryd (107.7 K). Comparisons are made with earlier available results and the accuracy of the data is assessed.

Highly resolved absolute cross-sections for dissociative electron attachment to SF5CF3

Using two complementary experimental methods, we have measured partial (mass-resolved) cross-sections for dissociative electron attachment to the molecule trifluoromethyl sulfurpentafluoride (SF5CF3) at the gas temperature T-G = 300 K over a broad range of electron energies (E = 0.001-12 eV). The absolute scale for these cross-sections was obtained with reference to the thermal (T = 300 K) rate coefficient for anion formation (8.0(3) x 10(-8) cm(3) s(-1)). Below 1 eV, SF5- is the dominant product anion and formed through the lowest anion state which cuts the neutral SF5CF3 potential close to the S-C equilibrium distance. The highly resolved laser photoelectron attachment data exhibit a downward Wigner cusp at 86meV, indicating that the nu(4)(alpha(1)) vibrational mode is important for the primary attachment dynamics. Both SF5- and F- anions are formed with similar yields through the first excited resonance located near 3.6eV. Towards higher energies, the anions CF3-, SF4-, and SF3- are also produced. Summation of the partial cross-sections yields a total absolute cross-section for anion formation over the energy range 0.001-12 eV. This is used to calculate the dependence of the rate coefficient for dissociative electron attachment over a broad range of electron temperatures for the fixed gas temperature T-G = 300 K; good agreement is found between the calculated values and those obtained in a drift tube experiment. In addition to the experimental work, semiempirical R-matrix calculations have been Carried out for the energy dependence of the cross-section for SF5- formation. The experimental findings are semi-quantitatively recovered. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electron-impact excitation of Ni II: Collision strengths and effective collision strengths for low lying fine-structure forbidden transitions

Context. Considerable demand exists for electron excitation data for Ni ii, since lines from this abundant ion are observed in a wide variety of laboratory and astrophysical spectra. The accurate theoretical determination of these data can present a significant challenge however, due to complications arising from the presence of an open 3d-shell in the description of the target ion. Aims. In this work we present collision strengths and Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths for the electron-impact ex- citation of Ni ii. Attention is concentrated on the 153 forbidden fine-structure transitions between the energetically lowest 18 levels of Ni ii. Effective collision strengths have been evaluated at 27 individual electron temperatures ranging from 30–100 000 K. To our knowledge this is the most extensive theoretical collisional study carried out on this ion to date.Methods. The parallel R-matrix package RMATRX II has recently been extended to allow for the inclusion of relativistic effects. This suite of codes has been utilised in the present work in conjunction with PSTGF to evaluate collision strengths and effective collision strengths for all of the low-lying forbidden fine-structure transitions. The following basis configurations were included in the target model – 3d9 , 3d8 4s, 3d8 4p, 3d7 4s2 and 3d7 4s4p – giving rise to a sophisticated 295 j j-level, 1930 coupled channel scattering problem. Results. Comprehensive comparisons are made between the present collisional data and those obtained from earlier theoretical evaluations. While the effective collision strengths agree well for some transitions, significant discrepancies exist for others.

Electron-impact excitation of Cr II A theoretical calculation of collision and effective collision strengths for forbidden transitions

Context. Absorption or emission lines of Cr II are observed in a wide variety of astrophysical spectra and accurate atomic data are urgently needed to interpret these lines. Many of these data are impossible to measure experimentally and a full theoretical treatment is the only means by which these data can be obtained.

Aims. In this paper, we present collision strengths and effective collision strengths for electron-impact excitation of Cr II for forbidden transitions among the lowest-lying 74 fine-structure levels. Effective collision strengths have been computed for 18 individual electron temperatures of astrophysical importance, ranging from 2000-100 000 K.

Methods. The parallel suite of R-matrix packages, RMATRX II, which has recently been extended to allow for the inclusion of relativistic effects, has been used in the present work to compute the collision strengths and effective collision strengths for electron-impact excitation of Cr II. We concentrate in this publication on low-lying forbidden lines among the lowest 74 jj fine-structure levels with configurations 3d(5) and 3d(4)4s, although atomic data has been evaluated for all 39 060 transitions among the 280 jj levels of configurations 3d(5), 3d(4)4s and 3d(4)4p. This work constitutes the largest evaluation ever performed for this ion involving 1932 coupled channels.

Results. Collision and effective collision strengths are presented for all transitions among the lowest 74 J pi states of Cr II and comparisons made with the work of Bautista et al. (2009). While the effective collision strengths agree well for some transitions, significant discrepancies exist for others. We believe that the present atomic data represents the most accurate, most sophisticated and most complete data set for electron-impact excitation of Cr II and we would recommend them to astrophysicists and plasma physicists in their application work. We would expect that the effective collision strengths presented for the important low-lying forbidden lines are accurate to within 15%.

Nebular and auroral emission lines of [Cl III] in the optical spectra of planetary nebulae

Electron impact excitation rates in Cl III, recently determined with the R-matrix code, are used to calculate electron temperature (T-e) and density (N-e) emission line ratios involving both the nebular (5517.7, 5537.9 Angstrom) and auroral (8433.9, 8480.9, 8500.0 Angstrom) transitions. A comparison of these results with observational data for a sample of planetary nebulae, obtained with the Hamilton Echelle Spectrograph on the 3-m Shane Telescope, reveals that the R-1 = /(5518 Angstrom)/I(5538 Angstrom) intensity ratio provides estimates of N-e in excellent agreement with the values derived from other line ratios in the echelle spectra. This agreement indicates that R-1 is a reliable density diagnostic for planetary nebulae, and it also provides observational support for the accuracy of the atomic data adopted in the line ratio calculations. However the [Cl III] 8433.9 Angstrom line is found to be frequently blended with a weak telluric emission feature, although in those instances when the [Cl III] intensity may be reliably measured, it provides accurate determinations of T-e when ratioed against the sum of the 5518 and 5538 Angstrom line fluxes. Similarly, the 8500.0 Angstrom line, previously believed to be free of contamination by the Earth's atmosphere, is also shown to be generally blended with a weak telluric emission feature. The [CI III] transition at 8480.9 Angstrom is found to be blended with the He I 8480.7 Angstrom line, except in planetary nebulae that show a relatively weak He I spectrum, where it also provides reliable estimates of T-e when ratioed against the nebular lines. Finally, the diagnostic potential of the near-UV [Cl III] lines at 3344 and 3354 Angstrom is briefly discussed.

Nebular and Auroral Emission Lines of [Ar IV] in the Optical Spectra of Planetary Nebulae

Recent R-matrix calculations of electron impact excitation rates in Ar IV are used to calculate the emission-line ratio: ratio diagrams (R₁, R₂), (R_1, R₃), and (R_1, R₄), where K₁ = I(4711 Å)/I(4740 Å), R₂ = I(7238 Å)/I(4711 + 4740 Å), R₃ = I(7263 Å)/I(4711 + 4740 Å), and R₄ = I(7171 Å)/I(4711 + 4740 Å), for a range of electron temperatures (T_e = 5000-20,000 K) and electron densities (N_e = 10-10⁶ cm^-3) appropriate to gaseous nebulae. These diagrams should, in principle, allow the simultaneous determination of T_e and N_e from measurements of the [Ar IV] lines in a spectrum. Plasma parameters deduced for a sample of planetary nebulae from (R_1, R₃) and (R_1, R₄), using observational date obtained with the Hamilton echelle spectrograph on the 3 m Shane Telescope at the Lick Observatory, are found to show excellent internal consistency and to be in generally good agreement with the values of T_e and N_e estimated from other line ratios in the echelle spectra. These results provide observational support for the accuracy of the theoretical ratios and, hence, the atomic data adopted in their derivation. In addition, they imply that the 7171 Å line is not as seriously affected by telluric absorption as previously thought. However, the observed values of R₂ are mostly larger than the theoretical high-temperature and density limit, which is due to blending of the Ar IV 7237.54 Å line with the strong C II transition at 7236 Å. 

Photo-double detachment from the F- ion

The correlated process of photodetaching two electrons from the F- ion following the absorption of a single photon has been investigated over an energy range 20-62 eV. In the experiment, a beam of photons from the Advanced Light Source was collinearly merged with a counter-propagating beam of F- ions from a sputter ion source. The F+ ions produced in the interaction region were detected, and the normalized signal was used to monitor the relative cross section for the double-detachment reaction. An absolute scale for the cross section was established by measuring the spatial overlap of the two beams and by determining the efficiency for collection and detection of the F+ ions. The measured cross section is compared with R-matrix and random phase approximation calculations. These calculations show that the Auger decay of the 2s2p(6) core-excited state of the F atom plays a minor role in the production of F+ ions and that double detachment is likely to be dominated by simultaneous correlated ejection of two valence electrons at energies well above threshold.

Electron-impact excitation of Ni II: Effective collision strengths for optically allowed fine-structure transitions

In this paper, we present collision strengths and Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths for the electron-impact excitation of Ni II. Attention is expressly concentrated on the optically allowed fine-structure transitions between the 3d 9, 3d 84s, and 3d 74s 2 even parity levels and the 3d 84p and 3d 74s 4p odd parity levels. The parallel RMATRXII R-matrix package has been recently extended to allow for the inclusion of relativistic fine-structure effects. This suite of codes has been utilized in conjunction with the parallel PSTGF and PSTGICF programs in order to compute converged total collision strengths for the allowed transitions with which this study is concerned. All 113 LS terms identified with the 3d 9, 3d 84s, 3d 74s 2, 3d 84p, and 3d 74s 4p basis configurations were included in the target wavefunction representation, giving rise to a sophisticated 295 jj-level, 1930 coupled channel scattering complex. Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths have been computed at 30 individual electron temperatures ranging from 30 to 1,000,000 K. This range comfortably encompasses all temperatures significant to astrophysical and plasma applications. The convergence of the collision strengths is exhaustively investigated and comparisons are made with previous theoretical works, where significant discrepancies exist for the majority of transitions. We conclude that intrinsic in achieving converged collision strengths and thus effective collision strengths for the allowed transitions is the combined inclusion of contributions from the (N + 1) partial waves extending to a total angular momentum value of L = 50 and further contributions from even higher partial waves accomplished by employing a "top-up" procedure.

Electron-impact excitation of CrII: A theoretical calculation of effective collision strengths for optically allowed transitions.

In this paper, we present electron-impact excitation collision strengths and Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths for the complicated iron-peak ion Cr II. We consider specifically the allowed lines for transitions from the 3d(5) and 3d(4)4s even parity configuration states to the 3d(4)4p odd parity configuration levels. The parallel suite of R-Matrix packages, RMATRX II, which have recently been extended to allow for the inclusion of relativistic effects, were used to compute the collision cross sections. A total of 108 LS pi/280 J pi levels from the basis configurations 3d(5), 3d(4)4s, and 3d(4)4p were included in the wavefunction representation of the target including all doublet, quartet, and sextet terms. Configuration interaction and correlation effects were carefully considered by the inclusion of seven more configurations and a pseudo-corrector (4d) over bar type orbital. The 10 configurations incorporated into the Cr II model thus listed are 3d(5), 3d(4)4s, 3d(4)4p, 3d(3)4s(2), 3d(3)4p(2), 3d(3)4s4p, 3d(4)(4d) over bar, 3d(3)4s (4d) over bar, 3d(3)4p (4d) over bar, and 3d(3)(4d) over bar (2), constituting the largest Cr II target model considered to date in a scattering calculation. The Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths are computed for a wide range of electron temperatures 2000-100,000 K which are astrophysically significant. Care has been taken to ensure that the partial wave contributions to the collision strengths for these allowed lines have converged with "top-up" from the Burgess-Tully sum rule incorporated. Comparisons are made with the results of Bautista et al. and significant differences are found for some of the optically allowed lines considered.

Interference between Competing Pathways in Atomic Harmonic Generation

We investigate the influence of the autoionizing 3s3p6nl resonances on the fifth harmonic generated by 200–240 nm laser fields interacting with Ar. To determine the influence of a multielectron response we develop the capability within time-dependent R-matrix theory to determine the harmonic spectra generated. The fifth harmonic is affected by interference between the response of a 3s electron and the response of a 3p electron, as demonstrated by the asymmetric profiles in the harmonic yields as functions of wavelength.

Electron impact excitation of Kr XXVIII

Collision strengths (Ω ) are calculated for all 6328 transitions among the lowest 113 levels belonging to the 2s22p5,2s2p6,2s22p43ℓ,2s2p53ℓ, and 2p63ℓ configurations of fluorine-like krypton, Kr XXVIII, using the Dirac Atomic R -matrix Code. All partial waves with angular momentum J⩽40 are included, sufficient for the convergence of Ω for forbidden transitions. For allowed transitions a top-up is employed to obtain converged values of Ω up to an energy of 400 Ryd. Resonances in the thresholds region are resolved on a narrow energy mesh, and results for effective collision strengths (ϒ) are obtained after averaging the values of Ω over a Maxwellian distribution of electron velocities. Values of ϒ are reported over a wide temperature range below View the MathML source, and the accuracy of the results is assessed. In addition, effective collision strengths are listed for the temperature range View the MathML source, obtained from non-resonant collision strengths generated with the FAC code.

Energy levels, radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in He-like Li II, Be III, B IV and C V

We report calculations for energy levels, radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in He-like Li II, Be III, B IV and C V. grasp (general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package) is adopted for calculating energy levels and radiative rates. For determining the collision strengths and subsequently the excitation rates, the Dirac atomic R-matrix code (darc) is used. Oscillator strengths, radiative rates and line strengths are reported for all E1, E2, M1 and M2 transitions among the lowest 49 levels of each ion. Collision strengths have been averaged over a Maxwellian velocity distribution and the effective collision strengths so obtained are reported over a wide temperature range up to 10(6) K. Comparisons have been made with similar data obtained from the flexible atomic code (FAC) to highlight the importance of resonances, included in calculations from darc, in the determination of effective collision strengths. Discrepancies between the collision strengths from darc and fac, particularly for weak transitions and at low energies, have also been discussed. Additionally, lifetimes are also listed for all calculated levels of the above four ions.

Energy levels, radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in Si XII, Si XIII and Si XIV

In this paper, we report calculations of energy levels, radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in Li-like Si XII, He-like Si XIII and H-like Si XIV. The grasp (general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package) is adopted for calculating energy levels and radiative rates, while for determining the collision strengths and subsequently the excitation rates, the Dirac atomic R-matrix code (darc) is used. Oscillator strengths, radiative rates and line strengths are reported for all E1, E2, M1 and M2 transitions among the lowest 24 levels of Si XII, 49 levels of Si XIII and 25 levels of Si XIV, belonging to the n≤5 configurations. Collision strengths have been averaged over a Maxwellian electron velocity distribution and the effective collision strengths so obtained are reported over a wide temperature range below 107 K. Comparisons have been made with similar data obtained from the flexible atomic code (fac) to highlight the importance of resonances, included in calculations from darc, in the determination of effective collision strengths. Discrepancies between the collision strengths from darc and fac, particularly for weak transitions and at low energies, are also discussed. Additionally, lifetimes are listed for all calculated levels of the above three ions, although no measurements are available with which to compare.

Energy levels, radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in H-like N VII, O VIII, F IX, Ne X and Na XI

We report calculations of energy levels, radiative rates and electron impact excitation rates for transitions in H-like N VII, O VIII, F IX, Ne X and Na XI. The general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package (grasp) is adopted for calculating energy levels and radiative rates, while the Dirac atomic R-matrix code (DARC) and the flexible atomic code (FAC) are used for determining the collision strengths and subsequently the excitation rates. Oscillator strengths, radiative rates and line strengths are listed for all E1, E2, M1 and M2 transitions among the lowest 25 levels of the above five ions. Collision strengths have been averaged over a Maxwellian velocity distribution, and the effective collision strengths so obtained are reported over a wide temperature range below 10(7) K. Additionally, lifetimes are also given for all the calculated energy levels of the above five ions.