Analytic solutions to the Boltzmann equation for electron swarms

Abstract
The Boltzmann equation describing an electron swarm in an electrostatic field in a gas is solved rigorously using a Green function technique. Analytic solutions are found for collision frequencies of the form nu c= nu 0( epsilon / epsilon 0)(l+1)/2 where epsilon is the electron energy, and the solutions are used to construct a formula for the ratio of longitudinal to lateral diffusion coefficients, D/sub ////D0. The results are found to provide good agreement with the recent computer simulations of Lucas and Saelee (1975).