Electron-impact excitation cross sections for Fe^{16+} in the configuration-average distorted-wave approximation

Electron-impact excitation cross sections for the 2p(6)-> 2p(5)3l transitions in Fe16+ are calculated in a configuration-average distorted-wave approximation. Resonant-excitation contributions from the 2p(5)3pnl('), 2p(5)3dnl('), and 2p(5)4lnl(') series are included in the isolated resonance approximation. The accuracy of the distorted-wave calculations is determined by comparison with previous 139 level resolved (n <= 5) fully relativistic R-matrix calculations. Excellent agreement is found between the configuration-average distorted-wave and R-matrix total rate coefficients for the strong 2p(6)-> 2p(5)3p and 2p(6)-> 2p(5)3d transitions, while differences found for the relatively weak 2p(6)-> 2p(5)3s transition are mainly attributed to close-coupling effects.