Electron correlation effects in Auger cascades following 2p-14s excitations in argon

Effects of intermediate coupling and configuration interaction on the partial transition rates, total decay widths, and angular distribution parameters of the Ar resonant Auger transitions 2p54s?3s13p54s and of the second-step Auger transitions 3s13p54s(2P1/2,3/2)->3p4 have been studied both theoretically and experimentally. Transition rates and angular anisotropies have been calculated for the first- and second-step transitions using the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock method. High-resolution spectra of both steps have been measured and used to test different schemes for the description of the many-particle states and the existence of possible coherence effects in the second-step spectra.