The Chemi-Ionization Processes in Slow Collisions of Rydberg Atoms with Ground State Atoms: Mechanism and Applications

In this article the history and the current state of research of the chemi-ionization processes in atom-Rydberg atom collisions is presented. The principal assumptions of the model of such processes based on the dipole resonance mechanism, as well as the problems of stochastic ionization in atom-Rydberg atom collisions, are exposed. The properties of the collision kinetics in atom beams of various types used in contemporary experimentations are briefly described. Results of the calculation of the chemi-ionization rate coefficients are given and discussed for the range of the principal quantum number values 5 <= n <= 25. The role of the chemi-ionization processes in astrophysical and laboratory low-temperature plasmas, and the contemporary methods of their investigation are described. Also the directions of further research of chemi-ionization processes are discussed in this article.