Download physical aspects of the egb (electric gas breakdown) wave

XXXVIII international conference on plasma physics and CF, February 14 – 18, 2011, Zvenigorod.
PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE EGB (ELECTRIC GAS BREAKDOWN)
WAVE PROPAGATION
A.V. Shelobolin
FIAN, Moscow, Russia, [email protected]
Up-to-date description of the electric gas breakdown (EGB) wave propagation in the streamer or
leader regime includes a joined solution of universal physical equations and the equation of particle
multiplication [1]. Nowadays there is no consensus of opinion on the latter problem. The main
reasons for the EGB wave propagation are considered to be the following:
1) The influence of the external source field at the top of the wave [2].
2) UV light emission at the wave front [3, 4].
3) Thermal and above-thermal energy coming from the electron wave [5, 6]. This item
automatically assumes an existence of longitudinal electromagnetic oscillations in the streamer
body.
The simplest energy evaluations and a lot of experiments confirm the existence of all the noted
reasons. To single out the basic reason one needs an experimental amplitude calibration of these
factors observed ahead of the wave front. The direct experiments of such type are not presently
available. However, there is an indirect experiment [7], which allows one to significantly advance
in this problem. In [7] the laws of streamer motion and radiation in the streamer chamber (SC) after
momentary cut-off of the external voltage have been defined. The results of this experiment have
revealed not only the mechanical parameters, but the radiation parameters as well. It has been
found, that the radiation maximum coincided with the moment of streamer full stop.
The mechanical parameters have been used [6, 8, 9] to describe qualitatively the process of
streamer inertial propagation, and the rest ones have not been used. However, just the latter ones
contained the fundamental information. According to them, the streamer optical radiation does not
influence its propagation. This circumstance, taking into account the absence in the experiment of
an external field (due to the experimental conditions), makes the electrons the most important factor
in the EGB wave propagation. And, in contrast to [5, 6], one should recognize that the wave
accelerates the electrons during one pass along the streamer.
Presently, just the plasma-waveguide model is capable to explain this phenomena, using the
noted experimental data, and to give plausible experimentally tested estimates for the media.
References
[1]. Lagar’kov A.N., Rutkevich I.M. Waves of Electric Breakdown in Bounded Plasma. M.
Nauka. 1989.
[2]. Bazelyan E.M., Raizer Yu.P. Spark discharge. 1998.(New York: CRC Press)
[3]. Reter G. Electron Avalanches and Breakdown in Gases. London. 1964.
[4]. Lozansky E.D., Firsov O.B. Spark theory. M. Atomizdat. 1975.
[5]. Rudenko N.S., Smetanin V.I. Izv. Vuzov USSR. Phys. 1977. Т.7, р.34.
[6]. Babich L.P. Plasma physics. 1981. V.7, 6, p.1419.
[7]. Rudenko N.S., Smetanin V.I. Sov. Phys. Techn. Phys.. 1975, V.19, p.1616.
[8]. Vorobiev A.A., Rudenko N.S., Smetanin V.I. Spark chamber technique. М. Аtomizdat. 1978.
[9]. Lozansky E.D., Firsov O.B. Letters to Sov. Phys. Techn. Phys. 1976. V.2, 8, p.352.
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