R-matrix electron-impact excitation data for the O-like iso-electronic sequence

TL;DR

This paper provides comprehensive R-matrix electron-impact excitation data for O-like ions from Ne III to Zn XXIII, improving plasma diagnostics accuracy for astrophysical applications and enhancing atomic databases.

Contribution

It delivers new, extensive level-resolved collision data for O-like ions across a wide temperature range, surpassing previous limited datasets and assessing their impact on solar plasma diagnostics.

Findings

General agreement with previous R-matrix calculations.

Improved diagnostics over existing CHIANTI models.

Data will be available in OPEN-ADAS.

Abstract

Astrophysical plasma codes are built on atomic databases. In the current atomic databases, R-matrix electron-impact excitation data of O-like ions are limited. The accuracy of plasma diagnostics with O-like ions depends on the availability and accuracy of the atomic data. This is particularly relevant in the context of future observatories equipped with the next generation of high-resolution spectrometers. To obtain level-resolved effective collision strengths of O-like ions from \ion{Ne}{III} to \ion{Zn}{XXIII} (i.e., Ne$^{2+}$ to Zn$^{22+}$) over a wide range of temperatures. This includes transitions up to $nl=5d$ for each ion. We also aim to assess the accuracy of the new data, as well as their impact on solar atmosphere plasma diagnostics, compared to those available within the CHIANTI database. A large-scale R-matrix intermediate coupling frame transformation calculations were performed systematically for the O-like iso-electronic sequence. For each ion, 630 fine-structure levels were included in both the configuration interaction target and close-coupling collision expansions. The present results (energy levels, oscillator strengths, and effective collision strengths) of selected ions across the iso-electronic sequence are compared with those in archival databases and the literature. For selected ions across the iso-electronic sequence. We find general agreement with the few previous R-matrix calculations of collision strengths. We illustrate the improvements for a few solar plasma diagnostics over existing CHIANTI atomic models based on distorted wave data. The electron-impact excitation data are archived according to the Atomic Data and Analysis Structure (ADAS) data class adf04 and will be available in OPEN-ADAS.