Saha's ionization equation for high Z elements

Abstract

Saha's ionization equation has been solved for high Z elements with the aim of providing input for opacity calculations. Results are presented for two elements, tungsten and uranium. The ionization potentials have been evaluated using the simple Bohr's formula with suitable effective charges for ions. The reliability of the free electron density, ion concentrations, etc., obtained from the Saha's equation solutions has been checked by comparing the P T and E T computed from them with those given by the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac equation of state. The agreement between the two is good from temperatures above 0.2 keV.