Electron-impact excitation of the<i>n</i>=3 and<i>n</i>=2 states of a hydrogen atom at intermediate (14–100-eV) energies

Abstract

A 17-state basis containing seven exact atomic states and ten pseudostates is employed in a calculation of cross sections for the electron-impact excitation of a hydrogen atom from the 1s to the n=2 and n=3 states. The incident energies range from 14 to 100 eV. The results are compared with some other recent calculations and with experiment. Improved effective (thermally averaged) collision strengths are presented for the excitation of the n=3 states.