Mutual neutralisation coefficient in an ambient gas

Computer simulated experiments are reported in which the ion loss due to mutual neutralisation and that due to ter-molecular recombination are separated. It is found that the presence of an ambient gas may increase the mutual neutralisation rate coefficient by a factor of as much as 10 4 and that it greatly reduces the range in which the rate coefficients for different mutual neutralisation processes lie. It is also found that mutual neutralisation may suppress ter-molecular recombination to a marked extent unless there is a low probability of a transition ensuing from a double traversal of the ionic-covalent crossing.