CHIANTI—An Atomic Database for Emission Lines—Paper. XVIII. Version 11, Advanced Ionization Equilibrium Models: Density and Charge Transfer Effects

Abstract

Version 11 of the chianti database and software package is presented. Advanced ionization equilibrium models have been added for low charge states of seven elements (C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and S), and represent a significant improvement especially when modeling the solar transition region. The models include the effects of higher electron density and charge transfer on ionization and recombination rates. As an illustration of the difference these models make, a synthetic spectrum is calculated for an electron pressure of 7 × 10 ^15 cm ^−3 K and compared with an active region observation from HRTS. Increases are seen in factors of 2–5 in the predicted radiances of the strongest lines in the UV from Si iv , C iv , and N v , compared to the previous modeling using the coronal approximation. Much better agreement (within 20%) with the observations is found for the majority of the lines. The new atomic models better equip both those who are studying the transition region and those who are interpreting the emission from higher-density astrophysical and laboratory plasma. In addition to the advanced models, several ion data sets have been added or updated, and data for the radiative recombination energy loss rate have been updated.

Keywords

• Atomic data
• Atomic physics
• Solar ultraviolet emission
• Solar atmosphere