This monograph is based on four papers which have been published in
Astrophysics and Space Sciences 1970--1974. They contain the results of
our joint work started in 1968 at the University of California, San
Diego, in La Jolla. The work was based on the belief that the
complicated processes by which our solar system was formed can only be
clarified by close collaboration between representatives of the physical
and chemical sciences. Our investigations have also been strongly
supported by work at other institu- tions, especially by a group at the
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, where a number of plasma
experiments have been made in order to clarify basic processes which are
relevant to cosmogonic problems. These experiments were, in their turn
inspired by theoretical work on primordial processes carried out during
the last thirty-five years. We especially want to acknowledge the
contributions by Drs N. Herlofson, B. Lehnert, C.-G. Fiilthammar, and
Lars Danielsson in Stockholm and by Drs J.