Spectroscopy of Highly Charged Ions Relevant to Astrophysics and Plasma Physics

Abstract

Highly charged ions are abundantly found in astrophysical bodies from solar corona to active galactic nuclei. Historically, the proper identification of these ions is carried out by atomic spectroscopic techniques. As each ion or particular charge state of element present in astrophysical bodies has a fingerprint spectrum, the emission spectra observed here on earth can be used to know the appropriate elemental abundance and various plasma environments existing there. These astrophysical spectroscopic studies not only add to our knowledge of unknown and extreme phenomena present in outer space but also open the door to do better laboratory plasma diagnostic studies indispensable for plasma fusion reactors, ion sources and many other industries related to plasma. The basis of all these studies is atomic spectroscopy, which is primarily done by both experimental observation and large scale calculations using the most sophisticated theories in atomic physics. The thesis work here consists of theoretical atomic structure calculations based on large scale ab-initio calculations performed under the framework of Multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock theory. The ions species and charge states are carefully selected in a way that computed data will be useful for both astrophysical observations and laboratory plasma diagnostic research.