Studies of highly charged iron ions using electron beam ion traps for interpreting astrophysical spectra

For over a decade, the x-ray astrophysics community has enjoyed a fruitful epoch of discovery largely as a result of the successful launch and operation of the high resolution, high sensitivity spectrometers on board the Chandra, XMM-Newton and Suzaku x-ray observatories. With the launch of the x-ray calorimeter spectrometer on the Astro-H x-ray observatory in 2014, the diagnostic power of high resolution spectroscopy will be extended to some of the hottest, largest and most exotic objects in our Universe. The diagnostic utility of these spectrometers is directly coupled to, and often limited by, our understanding of the x-ray production mechanisms associated with the highly charged ions present in the astrophysical source. To provide reliable benchmarks of theoretical calculations and to address specific problems facing the x-ray astrophysics community, electron beam ion traps have been used in laboratory astrophysics experiments to study the x-ray signatures of highly charged ions. A brief overview of the EBIT-I electron beam ion trap operated at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik's FLASH-EBIT operated at third and fourth generation advanced light sources, including a discussion of some of the results are presented. (paper)