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In an effort to measure electron-impact ionization (EII) cross-sections of He-like Fe24+ at the electron beam ion trap (EBIT) facility of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), we have experimentally determined the corrections to the nominal beam energy determined by the voltages applied to the EBIT. High-resolution X-ray spectra were recorded at nominal electron beam energies between 6660 eV and 6750 eV using X-ray microcalorimetry based upon an array of 192 transition-edge sensors (TES). A large-scale collisional-radiative simulation of the non-Maxwellian EBIT plasma using relevant atomic data calculated with Flexible Atomic Code allowed us to determine the space-charge correction due to the electron beam including the neutralization factor by the ion cloud of the EBIT.

Expanding upon recent work, a more comprehensive spectral model based on charge exchange induced X‐ray emission by ions precipitating into the Jovian atmosphere is used to provide new understanding of the polar auroras. In conjunction with the Xspec spectral fitting software, the model is applied to analyze observations from both Chandra and XMM‐Newton by systematically varying the initial precipitating ion parameters to obtain the best fit model for the observed spectra. In addition to the oxygen and sulfur ions considered previously, carbon is included to discriminate between solar wind and Jovian magnetospheric ion origins, enabled by the use of extensive databases of both atomic collision cross sections and radiative transitions. On the basis of fits to all the Chandra observations, we find that carbon contributes negligibly to the observed polar X‐ray emission suggesting that the highly accelerated precipitating ions are of magnetospheric origin. Most of the XMM‐Newton fits also favor this conclusion with one exception that implies a possible carbon contribution. Comparison among all the spectra from these two observatories in light of the inferred initial energies and relative abundances of precipitating ions from the modeling show that they are significantly variable in time (observation date) and space (north and south polar X‐ray auroras).

Motional Stark effect (MSE) spectroscopy represents a unique diagnostic tool capable of determining the magnitude of the magnetic field and its direction in the core of fusion plasmas. The primary excitation channel for fast hydrogen atoms in injected neutral beams, with energy in the range of 25–1000 keV, is due to collisions with protons and impurity ions (e.g., He 2 + and heavier impurities). As a result of such excitation, at the particle density of 10 13 –10 14 cm − 3 , the line intensities of the Stark multiplets do not follow statistical expectations (i.e., the populations of fine-structure levels within the same principal quantum number n are not proportional to their statistical weights). Hence, any realistic modeling of MSE spectra has to include the relevant collisional atomic data. In this paper we provide a general expression for the excitation cross sections in parabolic states within n = 3 for an arbitrary orientation between the direction of the motion-induced electric field and the proton-atom collisional axis. The calculations make use of the density matrix obtained with the atomic orbital close coupling method and the method can be applied to other collisional systems (e.g., He 2 + , Be 4 + , C 6 + , etc.). The resulting cross sections are given as simple fits that can be directly applied to spectral modeling. For illustration we note that the asymmetry detected in the first classical cathode ray experiments between the red- and blue-shifted spectral components can be quantitatively studied using the proposed approach.

To understand the origin and magnitude of the present upper limit observations of Saturn's auroral X‐ray emission, we use simple models based on the mechanism that leads to analogous emission at Jupiter, charge transfer between ion precipitation and atmospheric gas. Several putative sources and characteristics of the precipitation are considered, namely, (1) highly charged solar wind ions with additional acceleration and (2) ambient, thermal ion population originating, for example, from Saturn's satellites, and then accelerated to high energies. Estimates obtained for each of these sources show the need for acceleration, either to focus the highly charged solar wind ions into the atmosphere or to enable stripping of the initially low‐charge state ambient ions to higher charges. The former yields a constraint on the existing accelerating potentials present at Saturn but can only account for about a tenth of the observed upper limit to the auroral luminosity, while the latter requires extremely low limits on the area (i.e., less than 100 km2) over which field‐aligned potentials are active and needed to produce the acceleration to generate the observational upper limit on the X‐ray luminosity. We therefore narrow the range of possible ion sources, the accelerating potentials required that are consistent with the present understanding of the magnetosphere, and model upper limit of X‐ray emission from ion precipitation.

In an effort to measure electron-impact ionization (EII) cross-sections of He-like Fe[sup.24+] at the electron beam ion trap (EBIT) facility of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), we have experimentally determined the corrections to the nominal beam energy determined by the voltages applied to the EBIT. High-resolution X-ray spectra were recorded at nominal electron beam energies between 6660 eV and 6750 eV using X-ray microcalorimetry based upon an array of 192 transition-edge sensors (TES). A large-scale collisional-radiative simulation of the non-Maxwellian EBIT plasma using relevant atomic data calculated with Flexible Atomic Code allowed us to determine the space-charge correction due to the electron beam including the neutralization factor by the ion cloud of the EBIT.

Motional Stark effect (MSE) spectroscopy represents a unique diagnostic tool capable of determining the magnitude of the magnetic field and its direction in the core of fusion plasmas. The primary excitation channel for fast hydrogen atoms in injected neutral beams, with energy in the range of 25-1000 keV, is due to collisions with protons and impurity ions (e.g., He\\(^2+\\) and heavier impurities). As a result of such excitation, at the particle density of 10\\(^13\\)-10\\(^14\\) cm\\(^-3\\), the line intensities of the Stark multiplets do not follow statistical expectations (i.e., the populations of fine-structure levels within the same principal quantum number \\(n\\) are not proportional to their statistical weights). Hence, any realistic modeling of MSE spectra has to include the relevant collisional atomic data. In this paper we provide a general expression for the excitation cross sections in parabolic states within \\(n\\)=3 for an arbitrary orientation between the direction of the motion-induced electric field and the proton-atom collisional axis. The calculations make use of the density matrix obtained with the atomic orbital close coupling method and the method can be applied to other collisional systems (e.g., He\\(^2+\\), Be\\(^4+\\), C\\(^6+\\), etc.). The resulting cross sections are given as simple fits that can be directly applied to spectral modeling. For illustration we note that the asymmetry detected in the first classical cathode ray experiments between the red- and blue-shifted spectral components can be quantitatively studied using the proposed approach.

Recent X-ray studies have shown that supernova shock models are unable to satisfactorily explain X-ray emission in the rim of the Cygnus Loop. In an attempt to account for this anomalously enhanced X-ray flux, we fit the region with a model including theoretical charge exchange (CX) data along with shock and background X-ray models. The model includes the CX collisions of \\(O^8+\\), \\(O7+\\), \\(N^7+\\), \\(N^6+\\), \\(C^6+\\), and \\(C^5+\\) with H with an energy of 1 keV/u (438 km/s). The observations reveal a strong emission feature near 0.7 keV that cannot fully be accounted for by a shock model, nor the current CX data. Inclusion of CX, specifically \\(O^7+ + H\\), does provide for a statistically significant improvement over a pure shock model.

A new and more comprehensive model of charge-exchange induced X-ray emission, due to ions precipitating into the Jovian atmosphere near the poles, has been used to analyze spectral observations made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The model includes for the first time carbon ions, in addition to the oxygen and sulfur ions previously considered, in order to account for possible ion origins from both the solar wind and the Jovian magnetosphere. By comparing the model spectra with newly reprocessed Chandra observations, we conclude that carbon ion emission provides a negligible contribution, suggesting that solar wind ions are not responsible for the observed polar X-rays. In addition, results of the model fits to observations support the previously estimated seeding kinetic energies of the precipitating ions (~0.7-2 MeV/u), but infer a different relative sulfur to oxygen abundance ratio for these Chandra observations.

Elastic scattering and spin exchange cross sections in H++H collisions are computed using accurate adiabatic potential curves for the center-of-mass energy range 10−10 eV < E < 102 eV. Both cross sections show considerable structure which necessitates computation on a fine energy grid to resolve them. Many of these features can be correlated with the poles of the scattering matrix in complex energy plane. Finding stationary phases in the partial wave cross sections, we also explain the glory oscillations of the elastic cross section that extends below 100 eV down to the lowest energies. A complex angular momentum analysis using computed Regge trajectories shows that each peak of the oscillatory structure in the energy range 0.01-1 eV is predominantly associated with one or two trajectories.