Radiative transfer diagnostics - Understanding multilevel transfer calculations. I - Analysis of the full statistical equilibrium equations

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (17) References (13) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Radiative Transfer Diagnostics: Understanding Multilevel Transfer Calculations. I. Analysis of the Full Statistical Equilibrium Equations Skumanich, Andrew ; Lites, Bruce W. Abstract The sensitivity analysis method of Skumanich and Lites (1985), which makes it possible to decompose the equivalent two-level parameters of a non-LTE transition problem into their most significant excitation (source) and deexcitation (sink) terms, is reviewed and extended. In the method, the statistical equilibrium (SE) equations are solved numerically for the explicit upper and lower level occupations of a particular transition under various combinations of perturbations of atomic rates, both collisional and radiative, about an exact numerical solution. The sensitivity analysis is applied to the formation of the hydrogen spectrum in a representative model of the solar atmosphere. Although the numerical method is not a means of avoiding the direct algebraic solution of the SE equations, it reduces the burden of identifying the most significant terms along the (N-1)-factorial terms that occur in such a solution. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: November 1986 DOI: 10.1086/164695 Bibcode: 1986ApJ...310..419S Keywords: Computational Astrophysics; Equilibrium Equations; Radiative Transfer; Solar Atmosphere; Statistical Analysis; H Alpha Line; Solar Spectra; Astrophysics; LINE FORMATION; RADIATIVE TRANSFER; SUN: SPECTRA full text sources ADS |