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A unified scheme using the R-matrix method has been developed for electron–ion recombination subsuming heretofore separate treatments of radiative and dielectronic recombination (RR and DR). The ab initio approach within the coupled channel approximation has several inherent advantages in addition to the natural unification of resonant and non-resonant phenomena. It enables a general and self-consistent treatment of photoionization and electron–ion recombination employing identical wavefunction expansion. Detailed balance takes account of interference effects due to resonances in cross sections, calculated explicitly for a large number of recombined (e+ion) bound levels over extended energy regions. The theory of DR by Bell and Seaton is adapted for high-n resonances in the region below series limits. The R-matrix method is employed for (A) partial and total photoionization and photorecombination cross sections of (e+ion) bound levels, and (B) DR and (e+ion) scattering cross sections. Relativistic effects and fine structure are considered in the Breit–Pauli approximation. Effects such as radiation damping may be taken into account where necessary. Unified recombination cross sections are in excellent agreement with measurements on ion storage rings to about 10–20%. In addition to high accuracy, the strengths of the method are: (I) both total and level-specific cross sections and rate coefficients are obtained, and (II) a single (e+ion) recombination rate coefficient for any given atom or ion is obtained over the entire temperature range of practical importance in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, (III) self-consistent results are obtained for the inverse processes of photoionization and recombination; comprehensive datasets have been computed for over 50 atoms and ions. Selected data are presented for iron ions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aimed at solving the outstanding problem of solar opacity, and radiation transport plasma models in general, we report substantial photoabsorption in the high-energy regime due to atomic core photoexcitations not heretofore considered. In extensive R-matrix calculations of unprecedented complexity for an important iron ion Fe XVII (Fe16+), with a wave function expansion of 99 Fe XVIII (Fe17+) LS core states from n≤4 complexes (equivalent to 218 fine structure levels), we find (i) up to orders of magnitude enhancement in background photoionization cross sections, in addition to strongly peaked photo-excitation-of-core resonances not considered in current opacity models, and ii) demonstrate convergence with respect to successive core excitations. The resulting increase in the monochromatic continuum, and 35% in the Rosseland mean opacity, are compared with the "higher-than-predicted" iron opacity measured at the Sandia Z-pinch fusion device at solar interior conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]