An nl-model with radiative transfer for hydrogen recombination line masers

Abstract

Atomic hydrogen masers occur in recombination plasmas in sufficiently dense HII regions. These hydrogen recombination line (HRL) masers have been observed in a handful of objects to date and the analysis of the atomic physics involved has been rudimentary. In this work a new model of HRL masers is presented which uses an nl-model to describe the atomic populations interacting with free-free radiation from the plasma, and an escape probability framework to deal with radiative transfer effects. The importance of including the collisions between angular momentum quantum states and the free-free emission in models of HRL masers is demonstrated. The model is used to describe the general behaviour of radiative transfer of HRLs and to investigate the conditions under which HRL masers form. The model results show good agreement with observations collected over a broad range of frequencies. Theoretical predictions are made regarding the ratio of recombination lines from the same upper quantum level for these objects.