Collisional-radiative nonequilibrium in partially ionized atomic nitrogen

Abstract

A nonlinear collisional-radiative model for determination of nonequilibrium production of electrons, excited atoms, and bound-bound, dielectronic and continuum line intensities in stationary partially ionized atomic nitrogen is presented. Populations of 14 atomic levels and line intensities are calculated in plasma with 8000\ensuremath{\le}${T}_{e}$\ensuremath{\le}15 000 K and ${10}^{12}$\ensuremath{\le}${N}_{t}$\ensuremath{\le}${10}^{18}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}3}$. Transport of radiation is included by coupling the rate equations for production of the electrons and excited atoms with the radiation escape factors, which are not constant but depend on plasma conditions.