Research will be carried out on basic experimental atomic physics which has direct applications to plasmas and to laboratory astrophysics. This work will probe the basic physical processes which control electron-ion interactions. It will extend and improve the atomic data available for use in plasma modeling by measuring absolute electron-impact excitation and ionization cross sections for specific ions. It will enhance our understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in the excitation and ionization processes. And it will address the present discrepancy between theoretical calculations and measurements in the simplest systems where calculations and measurements should agree--but do not.
