Temperature and ionization balance dependence of O VII line ratios

Abstract

The forbidden-plus-intersystem to resonance line ratio (G) for the heliumlike ion O VII is calculated, taking into account cascades, blended satellite lines, and radiative plus dielectric recombination. It is noted that G is of particular use for investigating radiative-transfer effects and nonequilibrium ionization in the solar corona and that the calculations are applicable to a low-density optically thin Maxwellian plasma. The temperature dependence of G is considered for the case of a steady-state equilibrium plasma, and the effect of departures from ionization equilibrium on G is examined. It is found that G is quite insensitive to temperature over the range from 600,000 to 6 million K for a steady-state plasma, but that recombinations may be suppressed or dominant, depending on the relative abundance of O VIII, for a plasma in which the state of ionization is not in equilibrium with the electron temperature. This latter effect is shown to be capable of causing large variations in G that are dependent on electron temperature.