Recombination of electrons in the wake behind a body made of an aluminum–magnesium alloy, which flies in an air–xenon mixture with a hypersonic velocity

Based on the analysis of experimental data obtained in the wake behind an aluminum–magnesium body, it is shown that the change in the electron concentration along the wake axis behind the model made of the AMg–6 alloy (94% Al + 6% Mg) for velocities of 2–6 km/sec is determined by a complex system of reactions with excited states of atoms, double and triple recombination of electrons, and recharging of ions. It is shown that the dominating process determining the ion–concentration distribution is the dissociative recombination O$_2^+ + e\overset{k_r}\rightarrow$ O + O. By solving the inverse problem by two numerical methods, the rate constants of this reaction, which are in satisfactory agreement with the data of other authors, are found.