Importance of the completeness of the configuration interaction and close coupling expansions in R-matrix calculations for highly charged ions: electron-impact excitation of Fe20+

Abstract

We have carried out two intermediate coupling frame transformation (ICFT) R-matrix calculations for the electron-impact excitation of -like , both of which use the same expansions for their configuration interaction (CI) and close-coupling (CC) representations. The first expansion arises from the configurations , , with n = 3, 4, for , which give rise to 564 CI/CC levels. The second adds configurations , for , which give rise to 590 CI/CC levels in total. Comparison of oscillator strengths and effective collision strengths from these two calculations demonstrates the lack of convergence in data for n = 4 from the smaller one. Comparison of results for the 564 CI/CC level calculation with an earlier ICFT R-matrix calculation which used the exact same CI expansion but truncated the CC expansion to only 200 levels demonstrates the lack of convergence of the earlier data, particularly for n = 3 levels. Also, we find that the results of our 590 CC R-matrix calculation are significantly and systematically larger than those of an earlier comparable DW-plus-resonances calculation. Thus, it is important still to take note of the (lack of) convergence in both atomic structural and collisional data, even in such a highly charged ion as Fe20+, and to treat resonances non-perturbatively. This is of particular importance for Fe ions given their importance in the spectroscopic diagnostic modelling of astrophysical plasmas.