Ionization and recombination rates in non-Maxwellian plasmas

The ionization, excitation, and radiative recombination rates for highly stripped ions are cal- culated with Maxwellian and non-Maxwellian electron distribution functions of the type $C_m$exp(-$v^m$/$w^m$) (2≤m≤5) as encountered in laser-heated plasmas and certain types of turbulent plasmas. The direct-radiative-recombination rates are found to decrease by at most 30% as m is increased from 2 to 5. On the other hand, the ionization and excitation rates are found to be strongly reduced if the transition energy χ exceeds twice the local temperature $k_B$$T_e$. The effect of this on the distribution of energy levels and degrees of ionization in laser-produced plasmas could be important.