U.S.-U.K. Cooperative Research: Stellar Opacities and Atomic Data

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This award will support collaborative research between Drs. A.K. Pradhan and D. Mihalas, Ohio State University, and two groups of British astronomers under the direction of Dr. P.G. Burke, Queens University, Belfast and Dr. M. Seaton, University College, London. The objective of the proposed research is to carry out accurate large scale calculations of atomic data and stellar opacities. For the last seven years a major international project has been underway to carry out large scale atomic calculations with the final aim of calculating stellar opacities of unprecedented precision. The opacity of stellar material plays a fundamental role in the structure and evolution of stars, as it controls the transport of radioactive energy in some regions of virtually all stars. The stellar opacity is also intrinsically involved in the instabilities that give rise to stellar pulsation, which are important in a number of respects in current astronomical research. The aim of the proposed research project, which is a joint collaboration between atomic physicists and astronomers in the United- Kingdom, the U.S., the Federal Republic of Germany, France and Venezuela, is to employ state-of-the-art atomic physics methods that are capable of yielding the basic atomic parameters, such as oscillator strengths and photoionization cross sections, to a high degree of accuracy in the range of 5-10%. The project is being led by Drs. M. Seaton and P.G. Burke. This award will permit the participation of members of the U.S. team. The collaboration will benefit from the extensive expertise of Dr. Mihalas in stellar atmosphere theory and Dr. Pradhan in atomic physics.