An investigation has been made of the relative importance of the possible pathways [2a]–[2d][Formula: see text]for the reaction in the gas phase at room temperature between the excited oxygen atom O(1D2) and N2O, using the photolysis of NO2, O3, and N2O as sources of the excited atom. Measurement of the yields of N2 and NO from the photolysis at 2288 Å of mixtures of NO2 and N2O has led to a value of 1.01 ± 0.06 for k2a/k2b, the ratio of the rate constants for [2a] and [2b], in excellent agreement with the value of 0.99 ± 0.06 obtained from determination of the yields of N2 and NO2 arising from the flash photolysis of O3–N2O mixtures. The isotopic composition of the N2 produced in the photolysis of 15NO2–N2O mixtures indicated that k2c/k2a < 5 × 10 – 3. Furthermore, the value of k2a/(k2b + k2d) = 1.08 ± 0.19, obtained from a study of the effect of CO2 and Xe additions on the yield of N2 from the photolysis of N2O at 2288 Å, suggests that deactivation [2d] does not make an important contribution to the total rate constant for destruction of O(1D2).

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An analysis of electron and ion transport phenomena in cesium plasma is developed in a form consistent with experimental conditions typical of those in thermionic and magnetohydrodynamic energy converters and other cesium discharges. Particular attention is given to electron collision processes which are shown to influence significantly both electron and ion transport phenomena. Using available electron cross-section data, electron and ion transport coefficients are evaluated as a function of electron temperature and fractional ionization. Results are then applied to the plasma of a low-pressure nonuniform thermionic arc. Experimentally determined spatial variations of electron density and electron temperature are analyzed numerically and quantitative estimates are made of the spatial variation of electric field intensity, ion current density, and net charged particle production rate. The inferred production rate is compared with that evaluated using a nonequilibrium kinetic analysis developed by Norcross and Stone.

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