Kinetics of charge recombination in high-energy electron tracks in nonpolar liquids, calculated by computer simulation. The survival of the charged species at long times

The nonhomogeneous kinetics of the charge recombination in tracks of high-energy electrons in nonpolar liquids has been studied by computer simulation. The survival probability as a function of time W(t), has been calculated for the charged species in a 1 MeV electron track for Gaussian and exponential distributions of the initial distance between the positive and the negative species. The contributions of groups and tracks resulting from different energy losses in the track of the 1 MeV electron have been considered also. The behaviour of W(t) at long times is investigated in detail. The region of applicability of the theoretical limiting behaviour t-0.5 is checked and found to be very small. The experimentally observed behaviour t-0.6 is critically examined, and the relation with the spatial distribution of the charged species in the track is discussed. (author)