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Re: Plasma

On Tuesday, Nov 25, 2003, at 12:30 US/Pacific, John S. Denker wrote:

. . . It is thought that the ionization is due to
gravitational interaction. . . .

On 11/25/2003 12:23 PM, Ludwik Kowalski wrote:

That is very interesting and puzzling.

It's puzzling because it's wrong.

I would think
that partial ionization of intergalactic atoms is due
to cosmic rays, UV, etc.

Well, that correctly explains how they *get*
ionized. But then you need to explain why
they *stay* ionized. (In epidemiological
terms, this is the difference between incidence
and prevalence.)

They would stay ionized if the responsible agent
was constantly present, for example, very strong
flux of cosmic rays. It would be like in a population
inversion in a laser.
Ludwik Kowalski