Abstract
The R-matrix method, which has been used recently to calculate electron-atom and ion collision cross sections and atomic polarizabilities is extended to enable atomic photoionization processes to be studied. Both the initial atomic bound state and the final atomic continuum state are expanded in terms of R-matrix bases. The method is programmed for a general atomic system and then used to calculate the photoionization cross sections of ground state neon and argon atoms leaving the residual ions in their ground or first excited states. Good agreement is obtained with recent experiments using synchrotron radiation both in resonant and non-resonant regions, showing that the method has a wide range of applicability.