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In this article we show three quite different examples of low-temperature plasmas, where one can follow the connection of the elementary binary processes (occurring at the nanoscopic scale) to the macroscopic discharge behavior and to its application. The first example is on the nature of the higher-order transport coefficient (second-order diffusion or skewness); how it may be used to improve the modelling of plasmas and also on how it may be used to discern details of the relevant cross sections. A prerequisite for such modeling and use of transport data is that the hydrodynamic approximation is applicable. In the second example, we show the actual development of avalanches in a resistive plate chamber particle detector by conducting kinetic modelling (although it may also be achieved by using swarm data). The current and deposited charge waveforms may be predicted accurately showing temporal resolution, which allows us to optimize detectors by adjusting the gas mixture composition and external fields. Here kinetic modeling is necessary to establish high accuracy and the details of the physics that supports fluid models that allows us to follow the transition to streamers. Finally, we show an example of positron traps filled with gas that, for all practical purposes, are a weakly ionized gas akin to swarms, and may be modelled in that fashion. However, low pressures dictate the need to apply full kinetic modelling and use the energy distribution function to explain the kinetics of the system. In this way, it is possible to confirm a well established phenomenology, but in a manner that allows precise quantitative comparisons and description, and thus open doors to a possible optimization.

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In this work we extend a multi term solution of the Boltzmann equation for electrons in neutral gases to consider the third-order transport coefficient tensor. Calculations of the third-order transport coefficients have been carried out for electrons in noble gases, including helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr) and xenon (Xe) as a function of the reduced electric field, E/n0 (where E is the electric field while n0 is the gas number density). Three fundamental issues are considered: (i) the correlation between the longitudinal component of the third-order transport tensor and the longitudinal component of the diffusion tensor, (ii) the influence of the third-order transport coefficients on the spatial profile of electron swarm, and (iii) the errors associated with the two term approximation for calculating the thirdorder transport coefficients for electron swarms in noble gases. It is found that a very strong correlation exists between the longitudinal components of the third-order transport coefficient tensor and diffusion tensor for the higher values of E/n0. The effects of the third-order transport coefficients on the spatial profile of electron swarms are the most pronounced for noble gases with the Ramsauer-Townsend minimum in the cross sections for elastic scattering. The largest errors of two term approximation are observed in the off-diagonal elements of the third-order transport coefficient tensor in Ar, Kr and Xe for the higher values of E/n0.