Effective collision strengths for fine-structure forbidden transitions among the 2s22p3 levels of S X

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Effective collision strengths for electron-impact excitation of the N-like ion S x are calculated in the close-coupling approximation using the multichannel R-matrix method. Specific attention is given to the 10 astrophysically important fine-structure forbidden transitions among the 4So, 2Do and 2Po levels in the 2s22p3 ground configuration. The total (e−+ion) wavefunction is expanded in terms of the 11 lowest LS eigenstates of S x, and each eigenstate is represented by extensive configuration-interaction wavefunctions. The collision strengths obtained are thermally averaged over a Maxwellian distribution of velocities, for all 10 fine-structure transitions, over the range of electron temperatures log T(K)=4.6–6.7 (the range appropriate for astrophysical applications). The present effective collision strengths are the only results currently available for these fine-structure transition rates.