IONIZATION RELAXATION IN A PLASMA PRODUCED BY A PULSED INERT-GAS DISCHARGE.

A model is developed for the initial stage of ionization relaxation in a pulsed inert-gas discharge plasma at moderate pressures for E/n//1 values corresponding to ionization levels n//e**0/n//1**0 very much greater than 10** minus **4. It is shown that the electron density increases explosively in time due to accumulation of atoms in the lowest excited states. An approximate analytic solution is found for describing the behavior of the time and spatial increase in n//e as a function of the specific conditions. The proposed model is verified experimetally.