Structure of electron fluid dynamical plane waves. Antiforce waves

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Abstract
The techniques of fluid dynamics are applied to the passage of ionizing waves counter to strong electric fields. The wave is considered to be characterized by a weak discontinuity at its front, and a solution for the wave speed and structure has been found. The structure of the ionizing wave divides into two distinct regions: (1) a sheath region at the wavefront where the electric field, temperature, and velocity first attain maximum values and then the electric field decreases to zero as the electrons reach the same velocity as the ions, and (2) a quasi-neutral region. The electrons possess a large temperature at the beginning of the quasi-neutral region and ionization continues to take place until the electrons cool below the ionizing temperature. The dependence of the velocity of the ionizing wave upon the applied electric field has been found to agree well with experiment.

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