Electron impact collision strengths in Si IX, Si X, and Si XI

Abstract Electron impact collision strengths among 560 levels of Si IX, 320 levels of Si X, and 350 levels of Si XI have been calculated using the Flexible Atomic Code of Gu [M.F. Gu, Astrophys. J. 582 (2003) 1241]. Collision strengths Ω at 10 scattered electron energies, namely 10, 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 eV, are reported. Assuming a Maxwellian energy distribution, effective collision strengths ϒ are obtained on a finer electron temperature grid of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0 MK, which covers the typical temperature range of astrophysical hot plasmas. Additionally, radiative rates A and weighted oscillator strengths gf are given for the more probable transitions among these levels. Comparisons of our results with available predictions reported in earlier literature are made and the accuracy of the data is assessed. Most transitions exhibit a good agreement, but large differences in gf appear for a few cases, which are due to the different configuration interactions included in different theoretical calculations. For excitations among levels of the ground and lower excited configurations, large discrepancies of ϒ may have resulted from the consideration of resonance effects in earlier works.