AbstractStepwise excitation cross sections of the rare gases helium, neon and argon were obtained by an indirect method resting on the combination of experimentally determined excited species number densities of the rare gas atoms in the positive column of a low pressure glow discharge with the results of the theory of the positive column and electron kinetics. Furthermore a semiempirical expression of the excitation functions basing on the analysis of the Born‐approximation and modifications as well as a formula of Vainstein is offere