Oscillator strength calculations in neutral technetium

Abstract

Ab initio multiconfiguration calculations are performed for the oscillator strengths of the λ = 4238, 4262 and 4297 Å Tc I resonance lines of astrophysical interest. Electron correlation is treated through multiconfiguration expansions built from elaborate correlation models, while relativistic effects are introduced in the perturbation Breit-Pauli approximation or in the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock-Breit variational approach. The calculated gf-values are sensitively lower (≈30 per cent) than the values obtained with the pseudo-relativistic Hartree-Fock wavefunctions calculated from a parametric analysis of Tc I by Palmeri & Wyart. The inclusion of a core-polarization potential in the latter approach confirms the present ab initio results when different ionic cores are used for the different transition arrays. The strong lines of Tc I are revisited adopting this model, giving rise to a systematic reduction in the oscillator strength scale due to core polarization. The astrophysical implications are discussed. © 2005 RAS.