DISSOCIATION RATE OF MOLECULAR HYDROGEN IN HIGHLY IONIZED, LOW-TEMPERATURE PLASMAS.

THE RATE OF STEPWISE DISSOCIATION OF MOLECULAR HYDROGEN IS CALCULATED FOR PLASMAS WITH DEGREES OF IONIZATION ″BETA″ = 10** - **4 - 1. FOR ″BETA″ ″APP 1STH″ 10** - **3 DISSOCIATIONIS PRIMARILY CAUSED BY ELECTRON-IMPACT EXCITATION AND V-V EXCHANGE. FOR ″BETA″ ″APP GRTH″ 10** - **2 DISSOCIATION IS CAUSED SOLELY BY ELECTRON-IMPACT EXCITATION OF VIBRATIONAL STATES AND THE RATE OF DISSOCIATION IS GIVEN BY ″GAMMA″ //D = K**E//DN//EN//H//(//2//), WHERE K**E//D IS DETERMINED BY THE ELECTRON TEMPERATURE T//E. THE DEPENDENCE OF ″GAMMA″ //D ON THE TEMPERATURES OF THE PLASMA COMPONENTS AND ON THE DEGREE OF DISSOCIATION IS EXAMINED. THE RATE OF RECOMBINATION OF ATOMS INTO HYDROGEN MOLECULES IS ESTIMATED.