Collisional Radiative Recombination in Hydrogen Plasmas and in Alkali Plasmas

A simplified variational model for collision-dominated recombination of atomic ions is presented. The results are analytical formulas for electron-electron-ion recombination coefficients applicable to atomic systems whose outer electrons conform to one-electron energy-level structure. When combined with radiative transition probabilities, these results yield collisional-radiative recombination coefficients which are then compared with other theories and available experimental studies. In particular, fair agreement is found with Norcross and Stone's elaborate calculations for cesium recombination.