Excitation of Ar 3p54s-3p54p transitions by electron impact

Electron-impact excitation of argon from the 3p⁵4s (J=0,2) metastable states to the 3p⁵4p (J=0,1,2,3) manifold has been investigated in the semirelativistic first-order distorted-wave and plane-wave Born approximations. The results are compared with recent experimental data of Boffard et al. [Phys. Rev. A 59, 2749 (1999)] and R-matrix predictions by Bartschat and Zeman [Phys. Rev. A 59, R2552 (1999)]. In cases for which perturbative approaches are expected to be valid, the plane-wave Born approximation is found to be sufficiently accurate and thus allows for an efficient calculation of results over a wide range of collision energies.