Population Densities and Ionization Coefficients of Fast Transient Hydrogen Plasmas

Abstract

Abstract Population densities and ionization coefficients of transient hydrogen plasmas have been calculated for typical ionization and recombination conditions. The results have been obtained by solving a system of differential equations by means of the Runge-Kutta method. Each equation describes the temporal evolution of a quantum state belonging to the plasma. Two initial conditions have been studied: i) The number density populations of the excited states are in Saha equilibrium with the electrons ii) the densities of excited states are equal to zero, whereas the initial condition for the ground state density is caracterized by a non-equilibrium parameter b1(t = 0) =n1/n1E > which has been varied from 106 to 10-2. Typical results for electron number densities ne ranging from 108 to 2.5 · 1013 p/cm3 and electron temperatures ranging from T = 8000 to 16000 °K are presented and discussed.