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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

Atomic Data for Nonequilibrium Modeling of Kilonovae: The Ionization Properties of Te I – III

  • S. J. Bromley1
  • E. F. Garbe2
  • N. E. McElroy3
  • C. P. Ballance3
  • L. J. Shingles3
  • M. Fogle1
  • P.C. Stancil2
  • S. D. Loch1
  1. 1Auburn University
  2. 2University of Georgia
  3. 3Queens University Belfast
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Abstract

Kilonovae, the electromagnetic transients produced from two merging neutron stars, exhibit evolving spectral signatures in ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation. Starting around 1 week postmerger, equilibrium assumptions describing the local ionization balance and atomic level populations in the ejecta come into question, and nonequilibrium modeling is required. In this nonequilibrium regime, interactions with nonthermal electrons, the products of beta decay, are critical drivers of ionization-balance models. With most databases storing rate coefficients, the necessary cross sections describing these interactions are generally unavailable. We report new level-resolved (LR) calculations of the ionization cross sections of a species tentatively identified in kilonovae, Te i – iii , using the Flexible Atomic Code. Particular attention is paid to diagnosing the contributions from excitation autoionization. Good agreement is found between the calculated cross sections and a limited number of available measurements, and we find that all metastable levels of Te i – iii have similar ionization properties. Calculations in the configuration-average approximation yield ionization cross sections close to both experimental and LR theoretical values. The computed cross sections are combined with a Spencer–Fano nonthermal electron energy solver and subsequent ionization-balance models to probe the impact of improved cross-section data sets on ion fractions of Te i – iv at kilonova-like plasma conditions. The computed metastable-resolved cross sections are provided in a data.tar.gz archive and on Zenodo.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{bromley2026atomic,
  title = {{Atomic Data for Nonequilibrium Modeling of Kilonovae: The Ionization Properties of Te I – III}},
  author = {S. J. Bromley and E. F. Garbe and N. E. McElroy and C. P. Ballance and L. J. Shingles and M. Fogle and P.C. Stancil and S. D. Loch},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4365/ae9f4a},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ae9f4a},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Atomic Data for Nonequilibrium Modeling of Kilonovae: The Ionization Properties of Te I – III
AU  - S. J. Bromley
AU  - E. F. Garbe
AU  - N. E. McElroy
AU  - C. P. Ballance
AU  - L. J. Shingles
AU  - M. Fogle
AU  - P.C. Stancil
AU  - S. D. Loch
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4365/ae9f4a
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ae9f4a
AB  - Kilonovae, the electromagnetic transients produced from two merging neutron stars, exhibit evolving spectral signatures in ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation. Starting around 1 week postmerger, equilibrium assumptions describing the local ionization balance and atomic level populations in the ejecta come into question, and nonequilibrium modeling is required. In this nonequilibrium regime, interactions with nonthermal electrons, the products of beta decay, are critical drivers of ionization-balance models. With most databases storing rate coefficients, the necessary cross sections describing these interactions are generally unavailable. We report new level-resolved (LR) calculations of the ionization cross sections of a species tentatively identified in kilonovae, Te i – iii , using the Flexible Atomic Code. Particular attention is paid to diagnosing the contributions from excitation autoionization. Good agreement is found between the calculated cross sections and a limited number of available measurements, and we find that all metastable levels of Te i – iii have similar ionization properties. Calculations in the configuration-average approximation yield ionization cross sections close to both experimental and LR theoretical values. The computed cross sections are combined with a Spencer–Fano nonthermal electron energy solver and subsequent ionization-balance models to probe the impact of improved cross-section data sets on ion fractions of Te i – iv at kilonova-like plasma conditions. The computed metastable-resolved cross sections are provided in a data.tar.gz archive and on Zenodo.
SN  - 0067-0049
SN  - 1538-4365
ER  -