Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Shockwave Interactions With Argon Glow Discharges, Nicholas S. Siefert

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was study shock wave interactions with argon glow discharges. Specifically, this thesis sought to answer whether it is possible to compress nonequilibrium electrons at the shock wave. The results in the thesis found that both equilibrium and nonequilibrium electrons could be compressed at the shock front. The double layer at the shock front, normalized by electron temperature, matched the calculated values for the double layer within a factor or two in all cases. The results also demonstrate that excited metastable states can be compressed at the shock front, as well. The culmination of this effort …