Atomic data for neutron-capture elements III. Charge transfer rate coefficients for low-charge ions of Ge, Se, Br, Kr, Rb, and Xe

TL;DR

This paper provides calculated charge transfer rate coefficients for low-charge ions of Ge, Se, Br, Kr, Rb, and Xe, crucial for determining elemental abundances in astrophysical nebulae, using advanced quantum mechanical methods.

Contribution

It introduces new charge transfer rate coefficients for these elements' ions, computed with multi-channel Landau Zener and Demkov approaches, aiding nebular abundance analysis.

Findings

Rate coefficients for ions with charges q=2-5 are provided.

Charge transfer reactions with neutral hydrogen are quantified.

Results support more accurate nebular abundance determinations.

Abstract

We present total and final-state resolved charge transfer (CT) rate coefficients for low-charge Ge, Se, Br, Kr, Rb, and Xe ions reacting with neutral hydrogen over the temperature range 10^2--10^6 K. Each of these elements has been detected in ionized astrophysical nebulae, particularly planetary nebulae. CT rate coefficients are a key ingredient for the ionization equilibrium solutions needed to determine total elemental abundances from those of the observed ions. A multi-channel Landau Zener approach was used to compute rate coefficients for projectile ions with charges q=2-5, and for singly-charged ions the Demkov approximation was utilized. Our results for five-times ionized species are lower limits, due to the incompleteness of level energies in the NIST database. In addition, we computed rate coefficients for charge transfer ionization reactions between the neutral species of the above six elements and ionized hydrogen. The resulting total and state-resolved CT rate coefficients are tabulated and available at the CDS. In tandem with our concurrent investigations of other important atomic processes in photoionized nebulae, this work will enable robust investigations of neutron-capture element abundances and nucleosynthesis via nebular spectroscopy.