Lifetimes of some excited states in the rare earths: La II, Ce II, Pr II, Nd II, Sm II, Yb I, Yb II, and Lu II

Radiative lifetimes for excited states in La II, Ce II, Pr II, Nd II, Sm II, Yb I, Yb II, and Lu II have been determined by means of the beam-foil technique or the zero-field level-crossing method. The lifetimes for La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, and Yb are shorter than those computed by summing the transition probabilities of Corliss and Bozman by a factor of up to approximately 5. The large discrepancies between the abundance of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Sm in the solar photosphere and in meteorites are eliminated or greatly reduced if the abundance determinations of the solar photosphere are based upon the gf values of Corliss and Bozman, corrected for by the present lifetimes. (Auth.)