Self-consistent screened hydrogenic model based on the average-atom model: comparisons with atomic codes and plasma experiments

Here we present a self-consistent relativistic screened-hydrogenic model (SHM) based on the average-atom model (AAM) for effective calculation of the energy levels of many-electron atoms immersed in plasmas. In addition, we use diverse atomic codes using the configuration interaction method, to calculate the influence of electron density and temperature on the spectra of the diverse ionic states present in a plasma focus device, as well as in other dense plasma systems. The parameters of the AAM are introduced in a coupled system of Saha equations to find the densities and abundances of the different ions to obtain the effective charges and eigenenergies of hydrogenic bound states within the framework of a self-consistent Ion Sphere Model. The results of our calculations are compared with experimental data obtained by different authors and some discrepancies between theoretical and experimental spectra are explained. Graphic Abstract