Dynamical equation for the degree of ionization of the cosmic substratum before the formation of the galaxy

We discuss the variable degree of ionizationx of a hydrogen-helium plasma in the early Universe for a quasi-static expansion in thermal equilibrium. The final equation for the degree of ionization can be reduced to a polynomial of fourth order inx with known coefficients depending on the temperature. Restricting to a pure hydrogen-plasma applied to the recombination era, where the main ionization effects are due to photo-electric and collisional processes, we study the dynamical evolution of the degree of ionization for nonstatic and nonequilibrium situations. The calculation can be reduced to a pure quadrature. In the linear case, we also calculate the rate of ionization.