Multipole rates for atomic polarization studies: the case of complex atoms in non-spherically symmetric states colliding with atomic hydrogen.

International audienceInterpretation of linearly polarized parameters of the spectral lines of the second solar spectrum permits to obtain information about the magnetic field vector of the medium where the spectral lines are formed, provided suitable theoretical and numerical methods be applied to extract the physical information. This linear polarization is modified by the magnetic field and by collisions. In this context, with a few approximations, we provide in the present paper general and simple formulae giving the coefficients of the atomic master equation (depolarization, polarization transfer, population transfer and relaxation coefficients) for the case of an atom in any (but not spherically symmetric) level, perturbed by collisions with hydrogen atoms. It would be possible to apply this method for fast calculation of multipole rates for any level having an external shell l ≠q 0