Collisional-radiative study of lithium plasmas

Area of Science:

• Atomic Physics
• Plasma Physics
• Computational Physics

Background:

• Accurate atomic data is essential for reliable plasma modeling.
• Lithium plasmas are relevant in various scientific and technological applications.
• Previous models often relied on perturbative atomic data approximations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the sensitivity of lithium plasma models to different atomic data sets.
• To determine the impact of various electron impact atomic data methods on plasma properties.
• To identify plasma conditions requiring advanced nonperturbative atomic data.

Main Methods:

• Collisional-radiative modeling using Los Alamos and ADAS codes.
• Comparison of plane-wave Born, distorted-wave, and nonperturbative R-matrix methods.
• Analysis of ionization balance and radiated power across specified electron temperature and density ranges.

Main Results:

• Significant sensitivity of lithium plasma quantities to the choice of atomic data.
• Identification of specific electron temperature (0.2–90 eV) and density (10^10–10^14 cm^-3) regimes.
• Demonstration of the necessity for nonperturbative excitation and ionization rate coefficients in these regimes.

Conclusions:

• The accuracy of lithium plasma models is critically dependent on the underlying atomic data.
• Nonperturbative atomic data approaches are indispensable for accurate modeling under certain plasma conditions.
• This study provides guidance for selecting appropriate atomic data for lithium plasma simulations.