Radiative recombination of complex ions

The rates of radiative capture by atomic systems are computed for the first four ionization stages of the abundant elements C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, and Ar. A simple prescription is given for calculating the rates for systems in higher ionization stages. Results for capture to atomic helium are also given. In the general case, recent calculations of photoionization cross sections were used to compute capture rates to levels of the ground-state configuration of the recombined species. Captures to other levels of the valence shell and to the higher shells are evaluated by use of hydrogenic formulas but with a correction factor which takes into account the nonhydrogenic nature of these states. This correction factor is due to the incomplete shielding by the inner electrons and represents essentially an effective charge for the recombining ion; it is determined semiempirically from an appropriate weighting of values derived from the observed level structure for each species. In some cases, for the capture to neutral atomic systems, its application increases the resulting computed recombination rate by a significant amount (approx. 50%). Computed recombination rates are tabulated for the four ionization stages at an electron temperature of 104 K and for the first stage at 102 K. A convenient procedure is outlined for evaluating the rates at other temperatures in the general neighborhood of these values. 8 tables