Atomic data for opacity calculations. II. Computational methods

Abstract

For pt.I see ibid., vol.20, p.6363-78 (1987). A general description of the data requirements for opacity calculations has been given in paper I. The present paper gives a detailed description of the methods being used in a collaborative effort which is referred to as the Opacity Project. The close-coupling approximation of electron-atom collision theory is used to calculate energies and wavefunctions for bound states, oscillator strengths, photoionisation cross sections and parameters for line broadening by electron impact. The computations are made using the R-matrix method together with new codes for calculating outer-region solutions and dipole integrals. Use of these techniques provides an efficient means of calculating large amounts of accurate atomic data.