Generalization of the Arrhenius relation and ionization reaction rates for carbon atoms and ions in plasmas Original Research Article

It is postulated that the usual activation energy in chemical kinetic theory is associated with a threshold magnitude of momentum transfer. On the basis of this, the collision theory for reaction rates, which provides the Arrhenius formula for hard sphere interactions, is generalized to be independent of the form of the interaction force. In the case of Coulomb interactions, a simple Arrhenius-like reaction rate formula is obtained. This formula is applied for the first time to electron-impact single-ionization for carbon atoms and ions. Satisfactory agreement is obtained between the formula and empirical data which spans nine orders of magnitude.