Theoretical Atomic Spectroscopy of Earthbound and Stellar Plasma

Abstract: Motivated by spectroscopic analysis of astrophysical and laboratory plasma, this thesis concerns the fundamental structure and spectral properties of atoms and their ions. The multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock (MCDHF) method is used to predict the emission or absorption of radiation, by atomic systems in general, and of heavy and highly charged ions in particular.The first set of publications, paper AI to AVII, concerns ab-initio predictions of atomic structure and radiative transition rates, with a particular focus on relativistic and electron correlation effects. Systematic and large-scale MCDHF calculations have been carried out, often in combination with electron-beam ion trap experiments.The second set, BI to BVIII, presents a rigorous treatment of effects from non-spherical interactions with certain nuclei - hyperfine interaction - and external magnetic fields - Zeeman interaction - on atomic spectra. A general methodology has been developed and implemented in computer codes to include these perturbations in the wavefunctions and to determine their impact on the resulting spectra. Of particular interest are spectral intensity redistributions and unexpected transitions, and their applications to stellar abundance analyses, magnetic-fields effects in storage-ring experiments, and coronal magnetic-field measurements.