Monte Carlo simulation of non-conservative positron transport in pure argon

The main aim of this paper is to apply modern phenomenology and accurate Monte Carlo simulation techniques to obtain the same level of understanding of positron transport as has been achieved for electrons. To this end, a reasonably complete set of cross sections for low energy positron scattering in argon has been used to calculate transport coefficients of low energy positrons in pure argon gas subject to an electrostatic field. We have analyzed the main features of these coefficients and have compared the calculated values with those for electrons in the same gas. The particular focus is on the influence of the non-conservative nature of positronium formation. This effect is substantial, generally speaking much larger than any comparable effects in electron transport due to attachment and/or ionization. As a result several new phenomena have been observed, such as negative differential conductivity (NDC) in the bulk drift velocity, but with no indication of any NDC for the flux drift velocity. In addition, there is a drastic effect on the bulk longitudinal diffusion coefficient for positrons, which is reduced to almost zero, in contrast to the other components of the diffusion tensor, which have normal values. It is found that the best way of explaining these kinetic phenomena is by sampling real space distributions which reveal drastic modification of the usual Gaussian profile due to pronounced spatial differentiation of the positrons by energy.