Abstract
A partially ionized gas consists of free electrons, positive (and perhaps negative) ions and neutral particles. In this article we are interested in the behavior of partially ionized gases in electromagnetic fields. The electron and ions are accelerated or decelerated in the fields present, and during their trajectories they collide with the background particles, losing energy and momentum to the neutral gas. Because the electrons are so much lighter than the ions, it is the electrons which are thus primarily responsible for the conductivity of the gas. For the same reason, it is through the agent of the electrons that electrical energy is deposited into the gas in the form of gas heating or excitation. A knowledge of the electron component is therefore fundamental to a description of phenomena in partially ionized gases. The aim of this article is to present a brief description of the electron component of partially ionized gases in terms of electron transport, excitation and ionization rate coefficients. Transport coefficients, such as electron drift velocity or mobility and the diffusion coefficients, describe the response of the electrons on the average to the combined influences of the fields and the collisions, while excitation and ionization rate coefficients describe the flow of energy from the electrons to the neutral gas.
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Pitchford, L.C. (1990). Electron Transport in Partially Ionized Gases. In: Capitelli, M., Bardsley, J.N. (eds) Nonequilibrium Processes in Partially Ionized Gases. NATO ASI Series, vol 220. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3780-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3780-9_3
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