The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere VI. Helium in the Chromosphere

Molecular hydrogen and hydrides have recently been advanced as vital agents in the generation of emission spectra in the chromosphere. This is a result of the role they play in the formation of condensed hydrogen structures (CHS) within the chromosphere (P.M. Robitaille. The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere IV. On the Nature of the Chromosphere. Progr. Phys., 2013, v. 3, 15–21). Next to hydrogen, helium is perhaps the most intriguing component in this region of the Sun. Much like other elements, which combine with hydrogen to produce hydrides, helium can form the well-known helium hydride molecular ion, HeH, and the excited neutral helium hydride molecule, HeH. While HeH is hypothesized to be a key cosmological molecule, its possible presence in the Sun, and that of its excited neutral counterpart, has not been considered. Still, these hydrides are likely to play a role in the synthesis of CHS, as the He I and He II emission lines strongly suggest. In this regard, the study of helium emission spectra can provide insight into the condensed nature of the Sun, especially when considering the 10830 Å line associated with the 2P→2S triplet state transition. This line is strong in solar prominences and can be seen clearly on the disk. The excessive population of helium triplet states cannot be adequately explained using the gaseous models, since these states should be depopulated by collisional processes. Conversely, when He-based molecules are used to build CHS in a liquid metallic hydrogen model, an ever increasing population of the 23S and 23P states might be expected. The overpopulation of these triplet states leads to the conclusion that these emission lines are unlikely to be produced through random collisional or photon excitation, as required by the gaseous models. This provides a significant hurdle for these models. Thus, the strong 23P→23S lines and the overpopulation of the helium triplet states provides the thirty-second line of evidence that the Sun is comprised of condensed matter.