ACCURATE COLLISIONAL CROSS-SECTIONS: IMPORTANT NON-LTE INPUT DATA

Non-LTE modelling for a particular atom requires accurate collisional excitation and ionization cross-sections for the entire system of transitions in the atom. This review concerns with inelastic collisions with electrons and neutral hydrogen atoms. For the selected atoms, H I and Ca II, comparisons are made between electron impact excitation rates from ab initio calculations and various theoretical approximations. The effect of the use of modern data on non-LTE modelling is shown. For most transitions and most atoms, hydrogen collisional rates are calculated using a semi-empirical modification of the classical Thomson formula for ionization by electrons. Approaches used to estimate empirically the efficiency of hydrogenic collisions in the statistical equilibrium of atoms are reviewed.