Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

The branching classical trajectory method for inelastic atomic collision processes is proposed. The approach is based on two features: (i) branching of a classical trajectory in a nonadiabatic region and (ii) the nonadiabatic transition probability formulas particularly adapted for a classical trajectory treatment. In addition to transition probabilities and inelastic cross sections, the proposed approach allows one to calculate incoming and outgoing currents. The method is applied to inelastic Na + H collisions providing the results in reasonable agreement with full quantum calculations.

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

Motivated by the controversy over the surface metallicity of the Sun, we present a re-analysis of the solar photospheric oxygen (O) abundance. New atomic models of O and Ni are used to perform non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) calculations with 1D hydrostatic (MARCS) and 3D hydrodynamical (Stagger and Bifrost) models. The Bifrost 3D MHD simulations are used to quantify the influence of the chromosphere. We compare the 3D NLTE line profiles with new high-resolution, R|$\approx 700\, 000$|⁠, spatially resolved spectra of the Sun obtained using the IAG FTS instrument. We find that the O i lines at 777 nm yield the abundance of log A(O) = 8.74 ± 0.03 dex, which depends on the choice of the H-impact collisional data and oscillator strengths. The forbidden [O i] line at 630 nm is less model dependent, as it forms nearly in LTE and is only weakly sensitive to convection. However, the oscillator strength for this transition is more uncertain than for the 777 nm lines. Modelled in 3D NLTE with the Ni i blend, the 630 nm line yields an abundance of log A(O) = 8.77 ± 0.05 dex. We compare our results with previous estimates in the literature and draw a conclusion on the most likely value of the solar photospheric O abundance, which we estimate at log A(O) = 8.75 ± 0.03 dex.

The influence of inelastic hydrogen atom collisions on non-LTE spectral line formation has been, and remains to be, a significant source of uncertainty for stellar abundance analyses, due to the difficulty in obtaining accurate data for low-energy atomic collisions either experimentally or theoretically. For lack of a better alternative, the classical “Drawin formula” is often used. Over recent decades, our understanding of these collisions has improved markedly, predominantly through a number of detailed quantum mechanical calculations. In this paper, the Drawin formula is compared with the quantum mechanical calculations both in terms of the underlying physics and the resulting rate coefficients. It is shown that the Drawin formula does not contain the essential physics behind direct excitation by H atom collisions, the important physical mechanism being quantum mechanical in character. Quantitatively, the Drawin formula compares poorly with the results of the available quantum mechanical calculations, usually significantly overestimating the collision rates by amounts that vary markedly between transitions.