Ionic recombination in air

Abstract

The fundamental importance of the problem of recombination of ions in gases was appreciated almost as soon as the role of ions as carriers of electric charge in gas conduction was recognized. Indeed it was at one time believed that the greater part of the light emitted in the Geissler tube discharge had its origin in the energy resulting from ionic recombination. Rutherford and Thomson were the first to show, and verify experimentally, that the rate of decay of ion population by recombination was proportional to the product of the numbers of ions of either sign.