Laboratory Astrophysics: Spectroscopy of astrophysically important elements and applications of the new atomic data to astrophysics.

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New accurate atomic data are urgently needed for wide applications in modern astrophysics, particularly large scale Galactic spectroscopic surveys where hundreds of thousands of astrophysical spectra, recorded with state of the art astronomical spectrographs, are being analysed. This PhD project will include high resolution spectroscopic (using the technique of Fourier Transform Spectroscopy) studies of astrophysically important elements, for direct application to astronomy. The student will learn state of the art spectroscopy techniques at our laboratory in Imperial College London, where the visible to vacuum ultraviolet spectra can be observed. We also anticipate the student will also spend time with our collaborators at NIST (Washington USA) to work on observing infra red spectra. This experimental work will be combined with detailed analysis to yield the new atomic data that will be used by astronomers, for example atomic energy levels and wavelengths, transition probabilities, all needed to interpret astrophysical spectra meaningfully. We also expect this studentship to include an element of the student undertaking atomic structure calculations of the atomic species being studied, through collaboration with theoretical groups. We have strong links with the astronomical community that guarantees immediate dissemination of the new data, and we anticipate our student will visit some of these astronomers to work on the application of their new data.