Heavy ions in light gases in an electric field

L. Ferrari

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1980, vol. 101, issue 2, 491-506

Abstract: The limits of validity of the Kihara solution of the Boltzmann equation for heavy ions in light gases in an electric field are discussed. To this end the conditions are investigated for the passage from the integral Boltzmann equation to its approximate differential form whose exact solution is the Kihara distribution. It is found that, independently of the presence of an external field, only the Rayleigh condition on the mass ratio is required in the case of an ion-neutral maxwellian interaction. On the contrary, in the presence of an electric field, the main assumption allowing the above passage for any other ion-neutral interaction law implies the further condition that the square of the ratio of the ion drift speed to the thermal velocity of the neutrals cannot exceed (in order of magnitude) the neutral-particle-ion mass ratio. By a direct analysis of the ion velocity averages calculated by using the Kihara distribution, it is shown that this condition (together with Rayleigh's) constitutes also the limit of validity of the Kihara distribution in all cases of ion-neutral interaction law.

Date: 1980
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:101:y:1980:i:2:p:491-506

DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(80)90190-9

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