Analog to the Saha Equation for Recombining High-Pressure Plasmas in Which the Electron Temperature Exceeds the Gas Temperature

Abstract

The question of steady-state populations produced by a balance of heavy-particle collisional ionization against its inverse is considered. An analog to the Saha equation is derived which is useful in estimating the populations of excited states with high quantum numbers expected in plasmas recombining at high neutral pressures and electron temperatures in excess of the heavy-particle temperature.