Abstract

Recent atomic physics calculations for Si ii are employed within the cloudy modelling code to analyse Hubble Space Telescope (HST) STIS ultraviolet spectra of three cool stars, β Geminorum, α Centauri A and B, as well as previously published HST/GHRS observations of α Tau, plus solar quiet Sun data from the High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph. Discrepancies found previously between theory and observation for line intensity ratios involving the 3s23p 2PJ–3s3p2 4PJ' intercombination multiplet of Si II at ∼ 2335 Å are significantly reduced, as are those for ratios containing the 3s23p 2PJ–3s3p22DJ' transitions at ∼1816 Å. This is primarily due to the effect of the new Si ii transition probabilities. However, these atomic data are not only very different from previous calculations, but also show large disagreements with measurements, specifically those of Calamai et al. for the intercombination lines. New measurements of transition probabilities for Si II are hence urgently required to confirm (or otherwise) the accuracy of the recently calculated values. If the new calculations are confirmed, then a long-standing discrepancy between theory and observation will have finally been resolved. However, if the older measurements are found to be correct, then the agreement between theory and observation is simply a coincidence and the existing discrepancies remain.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-28-2015

Notes/Citation Information

Published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, v. 455, issue 3, p. 3405-3412.

This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2015 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

The copyright holders have granted the permission for posting the article here.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv2566

Funding Information

Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the Mikulsky Archive at Space Telescope Science Institute, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. Support for ASTRAL is provided by grants HST-GO-12278.01-A and HST-GO-13346.01-A from STScI. SL, CAR and FPK are grateful to STFC for financial support via grant ST/L000709/1. GJF acknowledges financial support from the Leverhulme Trust via Visiting Professorship grant VP1-2012-025.

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