Description
In the context of accretion disks around black holes, we estimate plasma-environment effects on the atomic parameters associated with the decay of K-vacancy states in highly charged iron ions, namely FeXVII-FeXXV. Within the relativistic multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock (MCDF) framework, the electron-nucleus and electron-electron plasma screenings are approximated with a time-averaged Debye-Huckel potential. Modified ionization potentials, K thresholds, wavelengths, radiative emission rates and Auger widths are reported for astrophysical plasmas characterized by electron temperatures and densities respectively in the ranges 10^5^-10^7^K and 10^18^-10^22^cm^-3^. We conclude that the high-resolution micro-calorimeters onboard future X-ray missions such as XRISM and ATHENA are expected to be sensitive to the lowering of the iron K edge due to the extreme plasma conditions occurring in accretion disks around compact objects.
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