Atomic Transition Probabilities for UV and Optical Lines of Gd II

We report new branching fraction measurements for 156 ultraviolet and optical transitions of Gd II. These transitions range in wavelength (wavenumber) from 2574 to 6766 Angstroms (38838 - 14777 cm-1) and originate in one odd-parity and 11 even-parity upper levels. Nine of the 12 levels, accounting for 126 of the 156 transitions, are studied for the first time. Branching fractions are determined for three levels studied previously for the purpose of comparison. The levels studied for the first time are high lying, ranging in energy from 36845 to 40774 cm-1. The branching fractions are determined from emission spectra from two different high-resolution spectrometers. These are combined with radiative lifetimes reported in an earlier study to produce a set of transition probabilities and log(gf) values with accuracy ranging from 5% to 30%. Comparison is made to experimental and theoretical transition probabilities from the literature where such data exist. Abundances derived from these new log(gf) values for 21 Gd II lines in two metal-poor stars yield results consistent with previous studies, and they demonstrate that the new log(gf) values can be used in stellar abundance analysis as a self-consistent extension of previous work.