  The solar Mg I emission lines at 12 micrometer have already been observed and
analyzed well. Previous modeling attempts for other stars have, however, been
made only for Procyon and two cool evolved stars, with unsatisfactory results
for the latter. We present high-resolution observational spectra for the K
giants Pollux, Arcturus, and Aldebaran, which show strong Mg I emission lines
at 12 micrometer as compared to the Sun. We also present the first observed
stellar emission lines from Mg I at 18 micrometer and from Al I, Si I, and
presumably Ca I at 12 micrometer. To produce synthetic line spectra, we employ
standard non-LTE modeling for trace elements in cool stellar photospheres. We
compute model atmospheres with the MARCS code, apply a comprehensive magnesium
model atom, and use the radiative transfer code MULTI to solve for the
magnesium occupation numbers in statistical equilibrium. We successfully
reproduce the observed Mg I emission lines simultaneously in the giants and in
the Sun, but show how the computed line profiles depend critically on atomic
input data and how the inclusion of energy levels with n > 9 and collisions
with neutral hydrogen are necessary to obtain reasonable fits.
