Dielectronic recombination (DR) is the dominant recombination process for most heavy elements in photoionized clouds. Accurate DR rates for a species can be predicted when the positions of autoionizing states are known. Unfortunately such data are no
t available for most third and higher-row elements. This introduces an uncertainty that is especially acute for photoionized clouds, where the low temperatures mean that DR occurs energetically through very low-lying autoionizing states. This paper discusses S$^{2+} rightarrow$ S$^+$ DR, the process that is largely responsible for establishing the [S~III]/[S~II] ratio in nebulae. We derive an empirical rate coefficient using a novel method for second-row ions, which do have accurate data. Photoionization models are used to reproduce the [O~III] / [O~II] / [O~I] / [Ne~III] intensity ratios in central regions of the Orion Nebula. O and Ne have accurate atomic data and can be used to derive an empirical S$^{2+} rightarrow$ S$^+$ DR rate coefficient at $sim 10^{4}$~K. We present new calculations of the DR rate coefficient for S$^{2+} rightarrow$ S$^+$ and quantify how uncertainties in the autoionizing level positions affect it. The empirical and theoretical results are combined and we derive a simple fit to the resulting rate coefficient at all temperatures for incorporation into spectral synthesis codes. This method can be used to derive empirical DR rates for other ions, provided that good observations of several stages of ionization of O and Ne are available.
Arguably, the best method for determining the effective temperature ($T_{mathrm{eff}}$) and surface gravity (log $g$) of a DA white dwarf is by fitting the Hydrogen Lyman and Balmer absorption features. However, as has been shown for white dwarfs wit
h $T_{mathrm{eff}}$>50,000K, the calculated value from the Lyman and Balmer lines are discrepant, which worsens with increasing temperature. Many different solutions have been suggested, ranging from the input physics used to calculate the models, to interstellar reddening. We will focus on the former, and consider three variables. The first is the atomic data used, namely the number of transitions included in line blanketing treatments and the photoionization cross sections. The second is the stark broadening treatment used to synthesise the Lyman and Balmer line profiles, namely the calculations performed by Lemke (1997) and Tremblay & Bergeron (2009). Finally, the third is the atmospheric content. The model grids are calculated with a pure H composition, and a metal polluted composition using the abundances of Preval et al. (2013). We present the preliminary results of our analysis, whereby we have determined the $T_{mathrm{eff}}$ for a small selection of white dwarfs. We plan to extend our analysis by allowing metallicity to vary in future model grids.
We present new experimentally measured and theoretically calculated rate coefficients for the electron-ion recombination of W$^{18+}$([Kr] $4d^{10}$ $4f^{10}$) forming W$^{17+}$. At low electron-ion collision energies, the merged-beam rate coefficien
t is dominated by strong, mutually overlapping, recombination resonances. In the temperature range where the fractional abundance of W$^{18+}$ is expected to peak in a fusion plasma, the experimentally derived Maxwellian recombination rate coefficient is 5 to 10 times larger than that which is currently recommended for plasma modeling. The complexity of the atomic structure of the open-$4f$-system under study makes the theoretical calculations extremely demanding. Nevertheless, the results of new Breit-Wigner partitioned dielectronic recombination calculations agree reasonably well with the experimental findings. This also gives confidence in the ability of the theory to generate sufficiently accurate atomic data for the plasma modeling of other complex ions.
We have measured electron-ion recombination for Fe XII forming Fe XI using a merged beams configuration at the heavy-ion storage ring TSR located at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany. The measured merged beams recomb
ination rate coefficient (MBRRC) for collision energies from 0 to 1500 eV is presented. This work uses a new method for determining the absolute MBRRC based on a comparison of the ion beam decay rate with and without the electron beam on. For energies below 75 eV, the spectrum is dominated by dielectronic recombination (DR) resonances associated with 3s-3p and 3p-3d core excitations. At higher energies we observe contributions from 3-N and 2-N core excitations DR. We compare our experimental results to state-of-the-art multi-configuration Breit-Pauli (MCBP) calculations and find significant differences, both in resonance energies and strengths. We have extracted the DR contributions from the measured MBRRC data and transformed them into a plasma recombination rate coefficient (PRRC) for temperatures in the range of 10^3 to 10^7 K. We show that the previously recommended DR data for Fe XII significantly underestimate the PRRC at temperatures relevant for both photoionized plasmas (PPs) and collisionaly ionized plasmas (CPs). This is to be contrasted with our MCBP PRRC results which agree with the experiment to within 30% at PP temperatures and even better at CP temperatures. We find this agreement despite the disagreement shown by the detailed comparison between our MCBP and experimental MBRRC results. Lastly, we present a simple parameterized form of the experimentally derived PRRC for easy use in astrophysical modelling codes.
We have measured electron-ion recombination for Fe$^{9+}$ forming Fe$^{8+}$ and for Fe$^{10+}$ forming Fe$^{9+}$ using merged beams at the TSR heavy-ion storage-ring in Heidelberg. The measured merged beams recombination rate coefficients (MBRRC) for
relative energies from 0 to 75 eV are presented, covering all dielectronic recombination (DR) resonances associated with 3s->3p and 3p->3d core transitions in the spectroscopic species Fe X and Fe XI, respectively. We compare our experimental results to multi-configuration Breit-Pauli (MCBP) calculations and find significant differences. From the measured MBRRC we have extracted the DR contributions and transform them into plasma recombination rate coefficients (PRRC) for astrophysical plasmas with temperatures from 10^2 to 10^7 K. This spans across the regimes where each ion forms in photoionized or in collisionally ionized plasmas. For both temperature regimes the experimental uncertainties are 25% at a 90% confidence level. The formerly recommended DR data severely underestimated the rate coefficient at temperatures relevant for photoionized gas. At the temperatures relevant for photoionized gas, we find agreement between our experimental results and MCBP theory. At the higher temperatures relevant for collisionally ionized gas, the MCBP calculations yield a Fe XI DR rate coefficent which is significantly larger than the experimentally derived one. We present parameterized fits to our experimentally derived DR PRRC.
