Summary
An extended comparison has been made between Boltzmann two-term and rigorous Monte Carlo calculations of time-dependent velocity distribution functions of electrons in a d.c. electric field in a gas to assess the limits of the conventional approximations. It is shown that under various conditions the two-term approximation is unable to represent the velocity distribution correctly even if the conventional quasi-stationary approximation of the velocity distribution anisotropy, usually adopted in this kind of calculations, is abandoned. The conditions which permit to use the two-term theory are discussed.
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Loffhagen D., Winkler R. andBraglia G. L.,Two-term and multi-term approximation of the velocity distribution in an electric field in a gas, to be published.
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Braglia, G.L., Minari, P., Wilhelm, J. et al. Comparison of monte carlo and boltzmann two-term calculations of time-dependent velocity distribution functions of electrons in an electric field in a gas. Il Nuovo Cimento D 17, 1155–1163 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02454130
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02454130