Inelastic Collisions in the Townsend?Huxley Diffusion Experiment

Abstract

The Boltzmann equation, including density gradients, is solved for the electron distribution function in the Townsend-Huxley experiment. Elastic and inelastic collisions with constant cross sections are assumed to occur, the inelastic energy loss per collision being small compared with the mean energy. The inelastic energy loss and the electron mean energy are calculated and tabulated over a range of values of EIP.