Tentatively identified and predicted H- Fano resonances

Positions are calculated for the Fano resonances that are due to interactions of the discrete autoionized 1s3s, 1s3p, and 1s4p states of H^- with overlapping split-configuration continua. The two first-mentioned resonances are tentatively identified with the diffuse interstellar doublets at λλ6376,6379 and λλ5780, 5797 on the basis of the relative positions of the autoionized states and the relative intensities of the doublet components.The observed wave-numbers of the 1s2s, 1s3s, 1s2p, and 1s3p resonances seem to belong to two series that converge towards a common limit in a kind of reverse Rydberg-series fashion. The position of the limit is close to 9000 Å, in accordance with theory. An extrapolation leads to the identification of the 1s4p resonance with the diffuse λ 6614 line. A further extrapolation leads to the prediction of positions at about 7183 and 7583 Å for the 1s5p and 1s6p resonances.The half-widths calculated for the singlet components of the 1s3p and 1s4p resonances are of the order of magnetude of those observed for the diffuse lines, and of the observed distance between the probably partly mixed singlet and triplet 1s3p components. The profile of the λ 5780 resonance is calculated on the basis of an assumed helium-line value for the oscillator strength. Its shape indicates that the “λ 5778 band” may be just a misinterpretation of the asymmetric wings.Tables of Hartree functions for the 3s², 3p² and 4p² configurations of H^- are given in an appendix.