REACTION RATES AND ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS DURING IONIZATION AND RECOMBINATION PROCESSES IN OPTICALLY THIN PLASMAS,
Abstract
A method for calculating the nonequilibrium distribution function for excited states of neutral atoms in optically thin three-component (ions, atoms, electrons), singly ionized, electrically neutral plasma is presented. With the aid of this function, reaction rates for ionization and recombination processes may be calculated. The numerical calculations for atomic hydrogen plasma give recombination rates slightly higher than those obtained by Bates et al. (D. R. Bates, A. E. Kingston, R. H. P. McWhirter, Proc. Roy. Sec. vA267, p297, 1963). Furthermore, for the optically thin case, a dependence of the ionization and recombination rate on the character and magnitude of the departure from equilibrium, as well as an electron density and the degree of resonance radiation trapping, was found and evaluated numerically for hydrogen. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0668972
Entities
People
- Maciej J. Zgorzelski
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology