K-shell photorecombinations in strongly coupled plasmas

Young-Dae Jung
a)
Department of Physics, Hanyang University, Ansan, Kyunggi-Do 425-791, South Korea
Received 2 May 2000; accepted 5 July 2000
Plasma screening effects on the K-shell photorecombination of the free electron with the ion in
strongly coupled plasmas are investigated. The recombination cross section is obtained by the
principle of detailed balance with the photoionization cross section of the hydrogenic ion. It is found
that the plasma screening effects on the recombination cross section are found to be less than 20%
when the ion-sphere radius (R
Z
) is greater than two times of the Bohr radius (a
Z
) of the hydrogenic
ion with nuclear charge Z. 2000 American Institute of Physics. S1070-664X0003710-1
The photorecombination process
15
is a subject of spe-
cial attention in many areas of physics, such as atomic and
plasma physics, because it is the inverse process to photo-
ionization. This photorecombination also has important con-
sequences for x-ray astronomy, since electron captures by
ions is one of the important continuum x-ray emission
mechanisms. The photorecombination cross sections by ions
in strongly coupled plasmas must be different from those of
free ions due to the surrounding plasma screening effects on
the initial and nal states of the electron. A most typical
example of strongly coupled classical plasma may be seen in
the system of ions inside a highly evolved star.
6
The ion-
sphere model
7,8
has played an important part in elucidating
the properties of the strongly coupled plasma. Thus, in this
Brief Communication we investigate the plasma screening
effects on the K-shell photorecombination processes by ions
in strongly coupled plasmas using the ion-sphere model,
since the theoretical atomic spectroscopy is essential in the
study of plasma parameters. The inverse process to photore-
combination is the photoionization process, consisting of
photon absorption and emission of a bound electron into a
continuum. Since we are dealing here with binary collisions,
A
z1
e

A
z
, 1
the cross sections
pr
: photorecombination,
pi
: photoion-
ization of both processes have the same dimensions and are
mutually related by the principle of detailed balance,

pr

pi

j
e

g
pr
g
pi
, 2
where j

(c/L
3
) and j
e
(v/L
3
) are the uxes of pho-
tons and electrons for the corresponding channels of the pro-
cesses, normalized to one photon per given cubic volume
(L
3
), where c is the speed of the light and v is the speed of
the electron. In Eq. 2, g
pr
2g
A
z4

k
2
dk/(2

)
3
and
g
pi
g
A
z1g
e
4

q
2
dq/(2

)
3
are, respectively, the sta-
tistical weights of the nal states for photorecombination and
photoionization processes, where g
A
z, g
A
z1, and g
e
are
the statistical weights of the internal state of the particles and
k and q are the wave numbers of the photon and the electron,
respectively. After some algebra, the cross section for the
photorecombination of the free electron to the bound state of
the ion with charge Z is found to be

pr

Z
2

2
2
E

2
E

pi
, 3
where (e
2
/c
1
137
) is the ne structure constant, E

(mv
2
/2Z
2
Ry) is the scaled electron energy, E

b
(E
b
/Z
2
Ry) is the scaled binding energy, Ry(me
4
/2
2
13.6 eV) is the Rydberg constant, and m is the electron rest
mass. The recombination into the ground state has the great-
est probability, due to the n
3
dependence of the spectrum
on the principal quantum number n. For the recombination of
the free electron to the 1s bound state of the ion with charge
Z in strongly coupled plasmas with the ion-sphere radius R
Z
,
the binding energy E
b
(E
1s
) can be given by the recent
investigation
9
for the 1s ground state energy and wave func-
tion using the Ritz variation method including the plasma
screening effect:
E
b
Z
2
RyZ
2
1

1s

2
Ry, 4
where ZZ(1

1s
) is the 1s effective charge,

1s
is the
1s screening constant:

1s

11/Z a
Z
/R
Z

3
13 11/Z a
Z
/R
Z

3
, 5
a
Electronic mail: yjung@bohr.hanyang.ac.kr
PHYSICS OF PLASMAS VOLUME 7, NUMBER 10 OCTOBER 2000
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
The purpose of this Brief Communications section is to present important research results of more limited scope than regular
articles appearing in Physics of Plasmas. Submission of material of a peripheral or cursory nature is strongly discouraged. Brief
Communications cannot exceed four printed pages in length, including space allowed for title, gures, tables, references, and an
abstract limited to about 100 words.
4347 1070-664X/2000/7(10)/4347/3/$17.00 2000 American Institute of Physics
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and a
Z
(a
0
/Z
2
/Zme
2
) is the Bohr radius of a hydro-
genic ion with nuclear charge Z. Then the recombination
cross section to the 1s bound state is given by

1s
pr

Z
2

2
2E

1s

1s
pi
, 6
where
1s
pi
is the 1s photoionization cross section in strongly
coupled plasmas described by the ion-sphere potential:
V r
Ze
2
r

1
r
2R
Z

3
r
2
R
Z
2
R
Z
r, 7
and (x) 1 for x0; 0 for x0 is the step function.
The 1s photoionization cross section
10

1s
pi
including the
screening correction on the bound and continuum states, re-
tardation correction, and Coulomb correction:

1s
pi

1s
pi

, Z, R
Z

2
9

2
3

1s
3
1

1s
a
Z
2

4
1Z
2

2
/

1s

e
4

1s

1/2
cot
1

1s

1/2
1e
2

1s

1/2

1s

2
tan
1

1
2
I

100
A

1s
, q, R
Z

2
, 8
where the parameter
1s
1
1(11/Z)(a
Z
/R
Z
)
3
represents the plasma-screening effect on the 1s Bohr radius and

(/Z
2
R
y
) is the scaled photon energy. Here, I

100
(A)
(
1s
, q, R
Z
) is the dipole acceleration matrix element:
I

100
A

1s
, q, R
Z

6
1s
4
q2
1s
6
q
3
R
Z

1s
2
q
2
R
Z

3
tan
1
q
1s

i
2
Ei R
Z
/
1s
iqR
Z
Ei R
Z
/
1s
iqR
Z

1s
2
qe
R
Z
/
1s
R
Z

1s
2
q
2
R
Z

3
4
1s
R
Z
4
1s
3
q
2
R
Z
R
Z
2

1s
4
q
2
2q
2
R
Z
2
2
1s
2
3q
2
R
Z
2
cos qR
Z

2
1s
R
Z
2
1s
5
q
4
R
Z
R
Z
2

1s
4
q
2
6q
2
R
Z
2
2
1s
2
1q
2
R
Z
2
sin qR
Z
, 9
where Ei(x)(

x
dt e
t
/t) is the exponential integral function
11
and
1s
(
1s
a
Z
) is the effect Bohr radius of the 1s electron
in strong coupled plasmas. In obtaining Eq. 8, we restricted ourselves to hydrogenic wave functions with Z1, so that the
relativistic effect for the bound state wave function was neglected, since the relativistic corrections are only of relative order
(Z)
2
. Using the energy conservation, E

(1

1s
)
2

, the 1s photorecombination cross as a function of the scaled electron

energy (E

) is then found to be
FIG. 1. The 1s photorecombination
cross sections
1s
pr
in units of a
0
2
for
Z2 as functions of the scaled elec-
tron energy E

(mv
2
/2Z
2
Ry). The
dotted line represents the photorecom-
bination cross section for R

Z
2, i.e.,
including the plasma-screening ef-
fects. The solid line represents the
photorecombination cross section for
R

Z
, i.e., neglecting the plasma-
screening effects.
4348 Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 7, No. 10, October 2000 Young-Dae Jung
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1s
pr
E

, Z, R

Z
/a
0
2

2
8

3

3

1s
3
1

1s

1 1

1s

2
E
3/2
E

1s

2

1
Z
2

2
E

1s

2
E

e
4E
1/2
cot
1
E
1/2
1e
2 E
1/2
tan
1

1 1

1s

6
1s
4
E
1/2
2
1s
6
E
3/2
R

1s
2
E

3
tan
1
E

1s

i
2
Ei R

Z
/
1s
iE
1/2
R

Z
Ei R

Z
/
1s
iE
1/2
R

1s
2
E
1/2
e
R

Z
/
1s
R

1s
2
E

3
4
1s
R

Z
4
1s
3
E

Z
R

Z
2

1s
4
E

2E

Z
2
2
1s
2
3E

Z
2
cos E
1/2
R

2
1s
R

Z
2
1s
5
E
2
R

Z
R

Z
2

1s
4
E

6E

Z
2
2
1s
2
1E

R
Z
2
sin E
1/2
R

2
, 10
where R

Z
(R
Z
/a
Z
) is the scaled ion-sphere radius. Here,
the plasma screening effects on the continuum state
2 1
1s
/Z
1/2
/

1/2

e
4

1s

1/2
cot
1

1s

1/2
/
1e
2

1s

1/2

is reliable for R
Z
a
Z
, since the exponential term e
r/a
Z
is
small for rR
Z
. Hence, the screening effects on the con-
tinuum and bound states obtained using the ion-sphere po-
tential Eq. 7 are included in Eq. 10.
In order to explicitly investigate the total plasma screen-
ing effects on the 1s photorecombination cross section, spe-
cically, we consider ve cases of the ion-sphere radius:
R

Z
2, 4, 6, 12, and , and we assume that Z2, since our
nonrelativistic result Eq. 10 is valid for Z1. Figure 1
shows the photorecombination cross section for the electron
capture into the 1s bound state as a function of the scaled
electron energy E

(mv
2
/2Z
2
Ry). The unscreened photore-
combination cross section is also illustrated. As we can see
in this gure, the plasma screening effects are almost inde-
pendent of the incident electron energy for a given ion-
sphere radius. The numerical values of the photorecombina-
tion cross sections in units of a
0
2
are also listed in Table I.
It is noted that the plasma screening effects reduce the pho-
torecombination cross sections e.g., 23% for R

Z
2, 3%
for R

Z
4.
Summarizing, we have obtained the plasma screening
effects on the K-shell photorecombination of the free elec-
tron to the 1s bound state of the hydrogenic ion in strongly
coupled plasmas. The charged particle interaction potential
in plasmas is given by the ion-sphere potential. The plasma
screening effect on the photorecombination cross section is
obtained as a function of the ion-sphere radius and electron
energy. It is found that the plasma screening effects on the
photorecombination cross section for interesting domain of
the ion-sphere radius, R
Z
2a
Z
, are less than 20%. These
results provide useful information for photorecombination
processes in strongly coupled plasmas.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is grateful to Professor R. M. More and Pro-
fessor K. Fujima for useful discussions. The author would
like to thank the anonymous referee for suggesting improve-
ments to this text.
This work was supported by the Korean Ministry of
Education through the Brain Korea BK21 Project, by the
Korea Basic Science Institute through the HANBIT User De-
velopment Program FY2000, and by Hanyang University,
South Korea, made in the program year of 2000.
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TABLE I. The numerical values of the 1s photorecombination cross sec-
tions
1s
pr
in units of a
0
2
for Z2.
R

Z

1s
pr
(E

50)
a
(a
0
2
)
1s
pr
(E

250)
b
(a
0
2
)
2 5.096 10
9
1.143 10
10
4 6.469 10
9
1.455 10
10
6 6.612 10
9
1.488 10
10
12 6.665 10
9
1.500 10
10
6.672 10
9
1.501 10
10
a
The photorecombination cross sections for E

(mv
2
/2Z
2
Ry)50.
b
The photorecombination cross sections for E

(mv
2
/2Z
2
Ry)250.
4349 Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 7, No. 10, October 2000 K-shell photorecombinations in strongly coupled . . .
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