| Abstract: | The electron distribution function and the rate constant for ionization of atoms by electron impacts have been calculated as they apply to the conditions that are characteristic of a shock wave — namely, the energy distribution of the electrons and the ionization-rate constants are determined as functions of the temperature of the heavy particles. The energy dependence of the effective cross section for the excitation of an atom by electron impact is assumed to be linear. Equations of the Fokker-Planck type are used in the solution of the problem, and the range of temperatures and concentrations in which the deviation of the distribution from Maxwellian leads to a substantial change of the ionization-rate constant is determined.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tecknicheskoi Fiziki, No. 2, pp. 32–40, March–April, 1971. |
