X-ray spectroscopy in the microcalorimeter era II: A new Diagnostic on Column Density from the Case A to B Transition in H- and He-like Iron

P. Chakraborty, M. Chatzikos, F. Guzmán, Y. Su, G. J. Ferland

Published 2020-07-31Version 1

The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) on board \textit{Hitomi}, with the unprecedented resolving power of R$\sim$1250, allowed the detection of members of the Fe XXV \ka\ complex emission spectra from the center of the Perseus Cluster. In this paper, we introduce a novel method of measuring the column density using the optically thin (Case A) to optically thick (Case B) transition for one- and two-electron systems. We compare the Fe XXV K$\alpha$ line ratios computed with CLOUDY with that from the \textit{Hitomi} observations in the outer region of the Perseus core using collision strengths from different atomic datasets, and obtain good agreement. We also show the effect of turbulence on Fe XXV K$\alpha$ line ratios and interplay between column density and metallicity. Besides, we discuss the atomic number dependence of transition probabilities for allowed and non-allowed transitions, which causes the highly charged He-like systems, such as Fe XXV, to behave fundamentally differently from He I.