Theoretical investigations of the L1-L23M Coster-Kronig spectrum of argon

Investigations of the ArL 1 -L 23 M Coster-Kronig spectrum have been undertaken from a theoretical standpoint, with a view to gaining some insight into the effects which must be included in calculations of Coster-Kronig spectra. The areas of investigation were: energies of states with two open subshells of the same symmetry and occupation number; the effect of electron correlation on energies and rates of transitions where the final state has a valence shell s hole; the dependence of the individual rates on electron energy and the dependence of the L 1 -L 23 M 1 rates on the Coulomb potential of the residual ion as a function of energy. It is concluded that fairly elaborate calculations which account for all the effects described must be done in order to obtain accurate Coster-Kronig energies and rates.