Near-threshold electron-impact excitation of the vacuum-ultraviolet resonance transitions in Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe

Abstract

Results of semirelativistic $R$-matrix calculations for electron-impact excitation of the ${(np}^{6}{)}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\mathrm{np}}^{5}[n+1]s$ $(J=1)$ transitions in the noble gases Ne $(n=2),$ $\mathrm{Ar}(n=3),$ Kr $(n=4),$ and Xe $(n=5)$ are compared with experimental values for light polarizations and angle-integrated magnetic sublevel cross sections. The calculations focus on the near-threshold regime, where negative-ion resonances have a significant effect on the results. In light of the complexity of the structures, the agreement between theory and experiment is very encouraging. Nevertheless, further improvements in the theoretical treatment of both the target structure and the collision dynamics seem necessary.