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Impact of a minority relativistic electron tail interacting with a thermal plasma containing high-atomic-number impurities

A minority relativistic electron component can arise in both laboratory and naturally-occurring plasmas. In the presence of high-atomic-number ion species, the ion charge state distribution at low bulk electron temperature can be dominated by relativistic electrons, even though their density is orders of magnitude lower. This is due to the relativistic enhancement of the collisional excitation and ionization cross sections. The resulting charge state effect can dramatically impact the radiative power loss rate and the related Bethe stopping power of relativistic electrons in a dilute plasma.