Energy distributions for electron swarms in hydrogen at high values of E/p†

Energy distributions have been calculated for swarm electrons moving through hydrogen gas under the action of uniform eloctric fields for 20 < E/p < 100 V cm_-1 torr-1. An inter-related set of cross sections for all the electron/molecule collisions has been obtained, which together with the derived energy distributions will satisfy the experimental values of all the discharge parameters. The solutions for the energy distribution using the Holstein form of the Boltzmann energy equation is shown to give values for the mean energy and discharge parameters that are too small.