  The properties of a partially ionized plasma in a long cylindrical tube
subject to a uniform axial electric field are investigated. The plasma is
maintained by an external ionizing source balanced by bulk and surface
recombinations. Collisions between neutrals, whose density greatly exceeds the
density of charged particles, and of neutrals with ions are sufficiently
effective for their velocity distribution to be close to a Maxwellian with the
same uniform temperature, independent of the external field. The behavior of
the plasma is described by a collisional two-fluid scheme with charge
neutrality in the interior of the tube. Approximate nonlinear equations for the
hydrodynamical moments are obtained from a Boltzmann equation in which
electron-neutral, electron-ion and electron-electron collisions are all
important. It is found that under certain circumstances the current, and the
temperature of the electrons undergo a drastic change, with hysteresis, as the
electric field is varied.
