Multipole cross sections for collisional excitation of highly charged ions by isotropic electrons

The relativistic distorted-wave program of the flexible atomic code for calculating the cross sections for electron-impact excitation of ions between fine-structure levels is extended to get the multipole components of cross sections in the case of excitation by isotropic electrons. These components may be needed for interpreting the intensity and polarization of line emissions from thermal plasmas exposed to anisotropic radiations, such as the solar corona under photosphere irradiation. Illustrative numerical results are given for excitation of Si-like Fe12+ between the 3s(2)3p(2) P-3(1), P-3(2) and D-1(2) levels. These results can be useful in the analysis of infrared forbidden lines emitted from the solar corona. A comparison is made with the only published work based on the semi-relativistic distorted-wave approximation, showing some agreement for the excitation P-3(1) -> P-3(2) and discrepancies for the weak transition P-3(1) -> D-1(2).