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There was a mention of plasma in outer space. There is a considerable
mass of gas in intergalactic space that is nearly completely ionized.
Diffuse X-rays detected from rich clusters of galaxies show that they
often include gas (mostly hydrogen and helium) in that state. It is
thought that the ionization is due to gravitational interaction, that
the virial theorem applies for galaxies and ions alike. Of course
this process of virialization does not reach an equilibrium state in
rich clusters, but the high temperatures inferred cannot be accounted
for by any other process.
In my mind ionization is associated with inelastic collisions
(nuclear reactions, scattering of electrons or photons, etc).
An atom traversing a layer of a stationary material can
loose all of its electrons if its speed is much higher than
the orbiting speed of its innermost electrons. Am I the only
one who does not know how a "gravitational interaction"
can ionize an atom? Is it something that is theoretically
expected from general relativity (which I never studied)?