Most of our knowledge of the physical processes in distant plasmas is obtained through measurement of the radiation they produce. Here we provide an overview of the main collisional and radiative processes and examples of diagnostics relevant to the microphysical processes in the plasma. Many analyses assume a time-steady plasma with ion populations in equilibrium with the local temperature and Maxwellian distributions of particle velocities, but these assumptions are easily violated in many cases. We consider these departures from equilibrium and possible diagnostics in detail.
Understanding and modelling astrophysical plasmas on atomic levels while taking into account various assumptions (for example, collisional ionisation equilibrium or photoionisation equilibrium) became essential with the progress of high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. In order to prepare for the upcoming X-ray spectroscopy missions such as XRISM or Athena, the plasma codes with their models and the atomic databases need to be up to date and accurate. One such update for the plasma code SPEX is presented in this paper where we focus on the radiative loss due to collisional excitation in the low-density, optically thin regime. We also update the atomic data for neutral hydrogen and include the contribution of the dielectronic recombination. With all these updates being implemented in SPEX we finally present the new cooling curve. We include the comparison to other plasma codes (MEKAL, APEC, Cloudy) and other atomic databases (CHIANTI, ADAS). We show how the updated cooling impacts the stability curve for photoionised plasmas and find a new stable branch.
Astrophysical shocks or bursts from a photoionizing source can disturb the typical collisional plasma found in galactic interstellar media or the intergalactic medium. The spectrum emitted by this plasma contains diagnostics that have been used to determine the time since the disturbing event, although this determination becomes uncertain as the elements in the plasma return to ionization equilibrium. A general solution for the equilibrium timescale for each element arises from the elegant eigenvector method of solution to the problem of a non-equilibrium plasma described by Masai (1984) and Hughes & Helfand (1985). In general the ionization evolution of an element Z in a constant electron temperature plasma is given by a coupled set of Z+1 first order differential equations. However, they can be recast as Z uncoupled first order differential equations using an eigenvector basis for the system. The solution is then Z separate exponential functions, with the time constants given by the eigenvalues of the rate matrix. The smallest of these eigenvalues gives the scale of slowest return to equilibrium independent of the initial conditions, while conversely the largest eigenvalue is the scale of the fastest change in the ion population. These results hold for an ionizing plasma, a recombining plasma, or even a plasma with random initial conditions, and will allow users of these diagnostics to determine directly if their best-fit result significantly limits the timescale since a disturbance or is so close to equilibrium as to include an arbitrarily-long time.
The lifetime of solar-like stars, the envelope structure of more massive stars, and stellar acoustic frequencies largely depend on the radiative properties of the stellar plasma. Up to now, these complex quantities have been estimated only theoretically. The development of the powerful tools of helio- and astero- seismology has made it possible to gain insights on the interiors of stars. Consequently, increased emphasis is now placed on knowledge of the monochromatic opacity coefficients. Here we review how these radiative properties play a role, and where they are most important. We then concentrate specifically on the envelopes of $beta$ Cephei variable stars. We discuss the dispersion of eight different theoretical estimates of the monochromatic opacity spectrum and the challenges we need to face to check these calculations experimentally.
The impact of momentum anisotropy on the heavy quark transport coefficients due to collisional and radiative processes in the QCD medium has been studied within the ambit of kinetic theory. Anisotropic aspects (momentum) are incorporated into the heavy quark dynamics through the non-equilibrium momentum distribution function of quarks, antiquarks, and gluons. These non-equilibrium distribution functions that encode the physics of momentum anisotropy and turbulent chromo-fields have been obtained by solving the ensemble-averaged diffusive Vlasov-Boltzmann equation. The momentum dependence of heavy quark transport coefficients in the medium is seen to be sensitive to the strength of the anisotropy for both collisional and radiative processes. In addition, the collisional and radiative energy loss of the heavy quark in the anisotropic hot QCD medium have been analyzed. The effects of anisotropy on the drag and diffusion coefficients are observed to have a visible impact on the nuclear suppression factor both at the RHIC and LHC.
The heavy quark drag and momentum diffusion coefficients in the presence of both the collisional and radiative processes have been studied in a hot viscous QCD medium. The thermal medium effects are incorporated by employing the effective fugacity quasiparticle model based on the lattice QCD equation of state. Viscous effects are embedded into the heavy quark transport through the near-equilibrium distribution functions of the constituent medium particles of the quark-gluon plasma. The viscous corrections to the momentum distributions have been estimated from the effective Boltzmann equation. The effect of shear viscous correction to drag and diffusion is investigated by considering the soft gluon radiation by heavy quarks along with the elastic collisional processes of the heavy quark with the light quarks and gluons within the QGP medium. The momentum and temperature dependence of the heavy quark transport coefficients are seen to be sensitive to the viscous coefficient of the QGP for the collisional and radiative processes. The collisional and radiative energy loss of the heavy quark in the viscous quark-gluon plasma has also been explored.