Local plasma parameters and integral characteristics of a magnetogasdynamic channel under conditions of ionization instability

Results are presented from an experimental investigation of the onset of ionization instability in a disk-shaped Faraday magnetogasdynamic channel attached to a shock tube. The experiments were carried out in a pure inert gas (xenon) without alkaline additives. A relation is found between the integral plasma characteristics of a nonequilibrium magnetogasdynamic channel and the local parameters of a plasma that is unstable against the ionization instability. Mechanisms for amplifying perturbations and increasing the effective conductivity are revealed. It is concluded that these effects stem mainly from the features of three-body recombination in rare gases.