- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review A

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

5p and 4f photoabsorption in third-peak rapid-neutron-capture-process elements Ir, Pt, and Au

Eric Doyle*, Padraig Dunne†, and Patrick Hayden

  • *Contact author: en.pd@hotmail.com
  • †Contact author: padraig.dunne@ucd.ie
PDF

Phys. Rev. A 112, 042802 – Published 2 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/xk71-4n9b

Abstract

Photoabsorption spectra of ions of iridium, platinum, and gold have been recorded using the dual laser plasma technique in the spectral region between 48 and 126 eV. Features due to 5p and 4f excitation in neutral to four times ionized species lie in this region. Evidence of the rapid decay of the 5p hole following photoabsorption is provided by the widths of the spin-orbit split transition arrays, in contrast to the sharper and narrower features seen arising from 4f photoabsorption. The analysis of the iridium spectra is supported by atomic structure calculations and isoelectronic series analysis. Agreement with previous analysis of the spectra of platinum and gold is seen and some new identifications are also made. The significance of these r-process elements for astrophysical research is highlighted.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (31)

  1. F.-K. Thielemann, M. Eichler, I. Panov, and B. Wehmeyer, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 67, 253 (2017).
  2. D. Watson, C. J. Hansen, J. Selsing, A. Koch, D. B. Malesani, A. C. Andersen, J. P. U. Fynbo, A. Arcones, A. Bauswein, S. Covino, A. Grado, K. E. Heintz, L. Hunt, C. Kouveliotou, G. Leloudas, A. J. Levan, P. Mazzali, and E. Pian, Nature (London) 574, 497 (2019).
  3. J. J. Cowan, C. Sneden, J. E. Lawler, A. Aprahamian, M. Wiescher, K. Langanke, G. Martínez-Pinedo, and F.-K. Thielemann, Rev. Mod. Phys. 93, 015002 (2021).
  4. K. Ackley et al., Astron. Astrophys. 643, A113 (2020).
  5. J. H. Gillanders, S. J. Smartt, S. A. Sim, A. Bauswein, and S. Goriely, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 515, 631 (2022).
  6. J. H. Gillanders, S. A. Sim, S. J. Smartt, S. Goriely, and A. Bauswein, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 529, 2918 (2024).
  7. M. McCann, S. Bromley, S. D. Loch, and C. P. Ballance, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 509, 4723 (2021).
  8. J. T. Costello, E. T. Kennedy, B. F. Sonntag, and C. L. Cromer, J. Phys. B 24, 5063 (1991).
  9. E. T. Kennedy, J. Costello, J.-P. Mosnier, and P. van Kampen, Radiat. Phys. Chem. 70, 291 (2004).
  10. G. O'Sullivan, P. K. Carroll, P. Dunne, R. Faulkner, C. McGuinness, and N. Murphy, J. Phys. B 32, 1893 (1999).
  11. M. Cukier, P. Dhez, P. Jaeglé, and F. C. Farnoux, Phys. Lett. A 51, 173 (1975).
  12. P. Colarusso, M.-A. Lebeault-Dorget, and B. Simard, Phys. Rev. A 55, 1526 (1997).
  13. G. C. Rodrigues, P. Indelicato, J. P. Santos, P. Patté, and F. Parente, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 86, 117 (2004).
  14. P. Sladeczek, M. Martins, M. Richter, K.-H. Selbmann, and P. Zimmermann, J. Phys. B 27, 4123 (1994).
  15. R. D. Cowan, The Theory of Atomic Structure and Spectra (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1981).
  16. M. Martins, P. Sladeczek, K. Tiedtke, and P. Zimmermann, Phys. Rev. A 55, R8 (1997).
  17. F. H. Mies, Phys. Rev. 175, 164 (1968).
  18. M. Martins, P. Sladeczek, K. Tiedtke, and P. Zimmermann, Eur. Phys. J. D 1, 47 (1998).
  19. D. A. Libermani and A. Zangwill, Comput. Phys. Commun. 32, 75 (1984).
  20. A. Müller, S. Schippers, J. Hellhund, K. Holste, A. L. D. Kilcoyne, R. A. Phaneuf, C. P. Ballance, and B. M. Mclaughlin, J. Phys. B 48, 235203 (2015).
  21. B. M. McLaughlin, C. P. Ballance, S. Schippers, J. Hellhund, A. L. D. Kilcoyne, R. A. Phaneuf, and A. Müller, J. Phys. B 49, 065201 (2016).
  22. C. Ballance, R-matrix codes, available at https://connorb.freeshell.org (accessed May 2025).
  23. A. Kramida, Y. Ralchenko, J. Reader, and NIST ASD Team, NIST Atomic Spectra Database (version 5.12), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD (2024), available at https://physics.nist.gov/asd.
  24. M. G. Su, C. Z. Dong, N. Murphy, and G. O'Sullivan, Phys. Rev. A 79, 042507 (2009).
  25. U. Koble, J. T. Costello, J. P. Mosnier, E. T. Kennedy, and M. Martins, J. Phys. B 28, 181 (1995).
  26. U. Fano, Phys. Rev. 124, 1866 (1961).
  27. E. Doyle, G. O'Sullivan, P. Hayden, and P. Dunne, J. Phys. B 56, 135002 (2023).
  28. D. Colombant and G. F. Tonon, J. Appl. Phys. 44, 3524 (1973).
  29. R. C. Bilodeau, I. Dumitriu, N. D. Gibson, C. W. Walter, and N. Berrah, Phys. Rev. A 80, 031403(R) (2009).
  30. K. Dowd, E. Doyle, and P. Dunne, Exp. Astron. 60, 7 (2025).
  31. E. Doyle, P. Dunne, and P. Hayden, Zenodo (2025), https://zenodo.org/records/15485714.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. A 112, 042802– Published 2 October, 2025
  • Received 22 May 2025
  • Accepted 23 July 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation