Electron energy deposition in a gas mixture of atomic and molecular hydrogen and helium

A detailed discussion is presented of the slowing down of fast electrons in a partly ionized gas mixture of H, H-2 and He with a varying ratio of H to H, and a fixed fraction of He. The mean energies and yields for ionization, electronic excitation, dissociation, and vibrational excitation and the heating efficiencies are calculated for fractional ionizations from 0 to 0.1. Analytical formulas are obtained for many of the parameters.