Towards a general collisional radiative model

Collisional Radiative Models (CRMs) are a widely used tool in the modelling of plasmas. The results of such models appear as source terms in the particle and energy balances of plasma transport models. Usually such models calculate a partial Quasi Steady State Solution (QSSS). This means that the spatial and temporal relaxation of must excited state densities is neglected, which is valid for a broad variety of plasmas. Recently a new CRM has been developed which combines two interesting properties: * validity for a broad range of electron densities, as stepwise processes are taken into account; * the number of non-QSS levels can be chosen arbitrarily, generalising the concepts of the so-called coefficients of net ionisation and recombination. As a result of these properties it is possible to fully describe radiative transfer, while simultaneously the model is valid for higher electron densities, as stepwise processes can be taken into account. An application of the model is discussed in a second contribution to this conference ('Radiative Transfer in High-Current Ar-Hg Discharges, Van Dijk et el.). Other research groups are kindly invited to participate in this research.