Related papers: Runaway Electron Generation by Decelerating Stream…
Streamer discharges play a central role in electric breakdown of matter in pulsed electric fields, both in nature and in technology. Reliable and fast computations of the minimal model for negative streamers in simple gases like nitrogen…
A facility based on a next-generation, high-flux D-D neutron generator has been commissioned and it is now operational at the University of California, Berkeley. The current generator design produces near monoenergetic 2.45 MeV neutrons at…
Streamers are a generic mode of electric breakdown of large gas volumes. They play a role in the initial stages of sparks and lightning, in technical corona reactors and in high altitude sprite discharges above thunderclouds. Streamers are…
Streamers, thin, ionized plasma channels, form the early stages of lightning discharges. Here we approach the study of extraterrestrial lightning by studying the formation and propagation of streamer discharges in various nitrogen-methane…
The propagation mechanisms of plasma streamers have been observed and investigated in a surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) using 2D particle in cell simulations. The investigations are carried out under a simulated air mixture,…
Both fluid and particle models are commonly used to simulate streamer discharges. In this paper, we quantitatively study the agreement between these approaches for axisymmetric and 3D simulations of positive streamers in air. We use a…
We investigate the effect of humidity on the propagation of streamers in air. We present a minimal set of chemical reactions that takes into account the presence of water in a nonthermal air plasma and considers ionization, attachment,…
In this report, we describe characteristics of a ring-structure hydrogen plasma heated in electron cyclotron resonance conditions and confined in a mirror magnetic trap and discuss the relative efficiency of secondary electrons and…
Starting from the minimal model for the electrically interacting particle densities in negative streamer discharges, we derive a moving boundary approximation for the ionization fronts. The boundary condition on the moving front is found to…
Electron beams accelerated in solar flares and escaping from the Sun along open magnetic field lines can trigger intense radio emissions known as type III solar radio bursts. Utilizing observations by Parker Solar Probe (PSP), STEREO-A…
The conditions were found when the gaseous medium demonstrates a unidirectional conductivity on a short time scale; a gas density discontinuity forms a kind of "gas-dynamic diode" that allows the plasma channel to propagate in one direction…
In this study, we investigate the responsible species and processes involved in repetitive pulsed streamer inception in CO$_{2}$. We applied a 10 kV high-voltage pulse with a repetition frequency of 10 Hz and pulse width of 1 ms to a pin…
The ion energy distribution functions (IEDF) have been measured for a helium atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge jet expanding into the air and impacting a metal or ceramic surface. The plasma jet produces ionization waves as…
Photographs show distinct differences between positive streamers in air or in a nitrogen-oxygen mixture (0.2% O2). The streamers in the mixture branch more frequently, but the branches also extinguish more easily. Probably related to that,…
The evolution of negative streamers during electric breakdown of a non-attaching gas can be described by a two-fluid model for electrons and positive ions. It consists of continuity equations for the charged particles including drift,…
Streamers are the first stage of sparks and lightning; they grow due to a strongly enhanced electric field at their tips; this field is created by a thin curved space charge layer. These multiple scales are already challenging when the…
Tokamak start-up is characterized by low electron densities and strong electric fields, in order to quickly raise the plasma current and temperature, allowing the plasma to fully ionize and magnetic flux surfaces to form. Such conditions…
A high energy density plasma embedded in a neutral gas is able to launch an outward-propagating nonlinear electrostatic ionization wave that traps energetic electrons. The trapping maintains a strong sheath electric field, enabling rapid…
We consider the generation of electric currents in the solar chromosphere where the ionization level is typically low. We show that ambient electrons become magnetized even for weak magnetic fields (30 G); that is, their gyrofrequency…
Nonlinear dynamics of runaway electron induced wave instabilities can significantly modify the runaway distribution critical to tokamak operations. Here we present the first-ever fully kinetic simulations of runaway-driven instabilities…