Experimental and theoretical lifetimes and transition probabilities in Sb I

Abstract

We present experimental atomic lifetimes for 12 levels in Sb I. The levels belong to the 5p 2( 3P)6s 2P, 4P, and 5p 2( 3P)5d 4P, 4F, and 2F terms. The lifetimes weremeasured using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence. In addition, we report calculations of transition probabilities in Sb I using a multiconfigurational Dirac-Hartree-Fock method. The physical model was tested through comparisons between theoretical and experimental lifetimes for 5d and 6s levels. The lifetimes of the 5d 4F 3/2,5/2,7/2 levels (19.5, 7.8, and 54 ns, respectively) depend strongly on the J value. This is explained by different degrees of level mixing for the different levels in the 4F term. ©2010 The American Physical Society.