In a rarefied *ionised plasma gas* the spectrum is continuous. The mean free path is large, the electrons are 'at infinity'. In a free electron gas, in a metal say, there is a band structure.
I don't know the context of this particular argument but that is fact. My 2 cents worth. -----Original Message----- From: Robin van Spaandonk [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 25 October 2008 21:48 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Vo]:Banking on BLP? In reply to Edmund Storms's message of Sat, 25 Oct 2008 09:06:07 -0600: Hi Ed, >Robin, my main point is that an electron leaving an atom cannot go to >infinity under the conditions Mills has in his reactor. At most, it >will go into some other energy level, such as the conduction band if >one exists in the material. This fact is not based on speculation, >assumptions, or theory. This is a simple fact of nature that is well >understood. [snip] When an atom/molecule is ionized, the electron *never* goes to infinity, so in that sense, *no* measured (by *anyone*) ionization energy is 100% accurate. However due to the inverse square drop in electric field, the electron doesn't have to be removed very far from an atom before the difference between that and infinity is so small as to be trivial (a few microns is enough). Such distances are easily attained in a plasma. What happens to the electron after that is irrelevant to the process from which the electron originated. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
