Using the Livermore X-ray Spectral Synthesizer, which calculates spectral
models of highly charged ions based primarily on HULLAC atomic data, we
investigate the temperature, density, and photoexcitation dependence of the
I(11.92 A)/I(11.77 A) line ratio of Fe XXII. We find that this line ratio has a
critical density n_c \approx 5x10^13 cm^-3, is approximately 0.3 at low
densities and 1.5 at high densities, and is very insensitive to temperature and
photoexcitation, so is a useful density diagnostic for sources like magnetic
cataclysmic variables in which the plasma densities are high and the efficacy
of the He-like ion density diagnostic is compromised by the presence of a
bright ultraviolet continuum. Applying this diagnostic to the Chandra High
Energy Transmission Grating spectrum of the intermediate polar EX Hya, we find
that the electron density of its T_e \approx 12 MK plasma is n_e =
1.0^{+2.0}_{-0.5} x 10^14 cm^-3, orders of magnitude greater than that
typically observed in the Sun or other late-type stars.Comment: 11 pages including 3 encapsulated postscript figures; LaTeX format,
uses aastex.cls; accepted on 2003 April 3 for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa