Ionization of Hot Plasmas

Mewe, R.

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-0545-0_4

Cited by 28 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…For a detailed discussion of the ionization and recombination processes, see e.g. De Michelis & Mattioli (1981), Mewe (1988Mewe ( , 1990 and Raymond (1988).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionization balance for optically thin plasmas: Rate coefficients for all atoms and ions of the elements H to Ni

Mazzotta

Mazzitelli

Colafrancesco

et al. 1998

Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser.

971

1,219

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Abstract. We present in this paper new and updated calculations of the ionization equilibrium for all the elements from H to Ni. We collected for these elements all the data available in the literature for the ionization and radiative plus dielectronic recombination rates. In particular, the dielectronic rates have been fitted with a single formula and the related coefficients are tabulated. Our results are compared with previous works.

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“…For a detailed discussion of the ionization and recombination processes, see e.g. De Michelis & Mattioli (1981), Mewe (1988Mewe ( , 1990 and Raymond (1988).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionization balance for optically thin plasmas: Rate coefficients for all atoms and ions of the elements H to Ni

Mazzotta

Mazzitelli

Colafrancesco

et al. 1998

Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser.

971

1,219

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Simulations of spectra of the broad Lyα absorption lines and the highly ionised oxygen lines in the weak systems require thorough modelling of physical condition in the plasma (see e.g. Mewe 1990; Paerels & Kahn 2003;Kawahara et al 2006). We discuss in this paper the heating and equilibration processes in the shocked WHIM plasma affecting the spectral simulations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equilibration Processes in the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium

2008

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The Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) is thought to contribute about 40 − 50 % to the baryonic budget at the present evolution stage of the universe. The observed large scale structure is likely to be due to gravitational growth of density fluctuations in the post-inflation era. The evolving cosmic web is governed by non-linear gravitational growth of the initially weak density fluctuations in the dark energy dominated cosmology. Non-linear structure formation, accretion and merging processes, star forming and AGN activity produce gas shocks in the WHIM. Shock waves are converting a fraction of the gravitation power to thermal and non-thermal emission of baryonic/leptonic matter. They provide the most likely way to power the luminous matter in the WHIM. The plasma shocks in the WHIM are expected to be collisionless. Collisionless shocks produce a highly non-equilibrium state with anisotropic temperatures and a large differences in ion and electron temperatures. We discuss the ion and electron heating by the collisionless shocks and then review the plasma processes responsible for the Coulomb equilibration and collisional ionisation equilibrium of oxygen ions in the WHIM. MHD-turbulence produced by the strong collisionless shocks could provide a sizeable non-thermal contribution to the observed Doppler parameter of the UV line spectra of the WHIM.

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“…Now the two most frequently used plasma radiation codes are the MEKAL code (Gronenschild and Mewe 1978;Mewe and Gronenschild 1981;Mewe et al 1985;Mewe 1990Mewe , 1991Kaastra and Mewe 1994;Mewe et al 1995) and the APEC code (Smith et al 2001). While the older literature contains all the necessary information about the radiation codes including all the details of the rate calculations and much detail on the underlying physical processes, the modern codes are too complex to be easily described in the literature.…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

X-ray spectroscopy of galaxy clusters: studying astrophysical processes in the largest celestial laboratories

Böhringer

Werner

2009

Astron Astrophys Rev

193

142

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Galaxy clusters, the largest clearly defined objects in our Universe, are ideal laboratories to study in detail the cosmic evolution of the intergalactic intracluster medium (ICM) and the cluster galaxy population. For the ICM, which is heated to X-ray radiating temperatures, X-ray spectroscopy is the most important tool to obtain insight into the structure and astrophysics of galaxy clusters. The ICM is also the hottest plasma that can be well studied under thermal equilibrium conditions. In this review we recall the basic principles of the interpretation of X-ray spectra from a hot, tenuous plasma and we illustrate the wide range of scientific applications of X-ray spectroscopy. The determination of galaxy cluster masses, the most important prerequisite for using clusters in cosmological studies, rest crucially on a precise spectroscopic determination of the ICM temperature distribution. The study of the thermal structure of the ICM provides a very interesting fossil record of the energy release during galaxy formation and evolution, giving important constraints on galaxy formation models. The temperature and pressure distribution of the ICM gives us important insight into the process of galaxy cluster merging and the dissipation of the merger energy in form of turbulent motion. Cooling cores in the centers of about half of the cluster population are interesting laboratories to investigate the interplay between gas cooling, star-and black hole formation and energy feedback, which is diagnosed by means of X-ray spectroscopy. The element abundances deduced from X-ray spectra of the ICM provide a cosmic history record of the contribution of different supernovae to the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements and their spatial distribution partly reflects important transport processes in the ICM. Some discussion of plasma diagnostics for conditions out of thermal equilibrium and an outlook on the future prospects of X-ray spectroscopic cluster studies complete our review.

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Ionization of Hot Plasmas

Cited by 28 publications

References 74 publications

Ionization balance for optically thin plasmas: Rate coefficients for all atoms and ions of the elements H to Ni

Ionization balance for optically thin plasmas: Rate coefficients for all atoms and ions of the elements H to Ni

Equilibration Processes in the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium

X-ray spectroscopy of galaxy clusters: studying astrophysical processes in the largest celestial laboratories

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