ABSOLUTE TERM ENERGY OF CORE-EXCITED DOUBLET STATES OF LITHIUM

Thirteen core-excited lithium doublet states of the 2P, P-2(0), 2D, an d 2D0 symmetries are calculated with a multiconfiguration-interaction wave function. A variation method is used for the bound states whereas the saddle-point and saddle-point complex-rotation methods are used f or the autoionizing states. A restricted variation method is used for the saturated wave functions. Fine structures, relativistic correction s, and mass polarization corrections are calculated. The quantum elect rodynamic corrections are also estimated. The absolute term energy is predicted with an uncertainty which is much smaller than that in the l iterature. Among these core-excited states, ten doublet-doublet transi tions and one doublet-quartet transition have been measured. The large st error bar for the transition energy has been 6.2 cm-1 whereas other s range from 0.5 to 3.3 cm-1. Our predicted transition wavelengths agr ee with the experiment for 10 of the 11 transitions. The only discrepa ncy is about 2 cm-1. In the case where there is a disagreement between different experiments, our results show a clear preference in the com parison. The transition rates calculated in this work suggest that oth er spectral lines may also be observed in future experiments.