AbstractThe chemi-ionization processes in atom - Rydberg atom collisions, as well as the corresponding chemi-recombination processes, are considered as factors of influence on the atom exited-state populations in weakly ionized layers of stellar atmospheres. The presented results are related to the photospheres of the Sun and some M red dwarfs, as well as weakly ionized layers of DB white dwarf atmospheres. It has been found that the mentioned chemi-ionization and recombination processes dominate over the concurrent electron-atom and electron-ion ionization and recombination processes in all parts of the considered stellar atmospheres. The obtained results demonstrate the fact that the considered processes must have significant influence on the optical properties of stellar atmospheres. It is shown that these processes and their importance for non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) modeling of the solar atmospheres should be investigated further.
Nonadiabatic decay of Rydberg-atom–ion molecules