The radiative production and destruction of atomic states

In recombining plasma of low electron density, the lower part of an atomic energy scheme is completely determined by radiative processes. Atoms of a certain level are produced by decay of atoms of higher bound levels (cascade) or two particle recombination (capture) and destroyed by radiative decay. The kinetics of these radiative processes are discussed as functions of the energy of the level. The authors confine themselves to hydrogenic systems where levels can be `labeled' by their principal quantum number p