Photorecombination Spectra of Highly Charged Ions

A general method for the theoretical calculation of relativistic photorecombination cross sections is employed to obtain detailed theoretical spectra for highly charged ions for the first time in an ab initio manner. The calculations are carried out using the relativistic Breit-Pauli $R$-matrix method. The theoretical cross sections incorporate total electron-ion recombination and correspond directly to that observed experimentally. In particular, the detailed resonance structures are found to be in good agreement with the experiment results for Fe XXV obtained from the electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) at Livermore, and with the absolute values for Ar XIV measured using the heavy-ion storage ring (CRYRING) at Stockholm.