Laboratory demonstration of runaway electron breakdown of air

Gurevich, A. V.; Mesyats, G.; Zybin, K. P.; Reutova, A. G.; Shpak, V. G.; Shunaĭlov, S. A.; Yalandin, M. I.

doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2011.06.004

Cited by 47 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…These x-rays were usually produced when either the voltage was near its peak value or the voltage in the gap was in the process of collapsing. This work has since been confirmed and expanded upon by several groups in different high voltage laboratories (Dwyer et al 2008a;Rahman et al 2008;Nguyen et al 2008Nguyen et al , 2010Montanyà 2010, 2011;Gurevich et al 2011b). Like lightning, the energy spectra of x-rays from laboratory sparks is too soft to be produced by RREA, which, as we discussed in Sect.…”

Section: Short Duration X-ray Emissions From Long Laboratory Sparks Imentioning

confidence: 55%

High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Related Phenomena

2012

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It is now well established that both thunderclouds and lightning routinely emit x-rays and gamma-rays. These emissions appear over wide timescales, ranging from submicrosecond bursts of x-rays associated with lightning leaders, to sub-millisecond bursts of gamma-rays seen in space called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, to minute long glows from thunderclouds seen on the ground and in or near the cloud by aircraft and balloons. In particular, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), which are thought to be emitted by thunderclouds, are so bright that they sometimes saturate detectors on spacecraft hundreds of kilometers away. These TGFs also generate energetic secondary electrons and positrons that are detected by spacecraft in the inner magnetosphere. It is generally believed that these x-ray and gamma-ray emissions are generated, via bremsstrahlung, by energetic runaway electrons that are accelerated by electric fields in the atmosphere. In this paper, we review this newly emerging field of High-Energy Atmospheric Physics, including the production of runaway electrons, the production and propagation of energetic radiation, and the effects of both on atmospheric electrodynamics.

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Section: Short Duration X-ray Emissions From Long Laboratory Sparks Imentioning

confidence: 55%

High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Related Phenomena

2012

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“…The high‐field runaway and runaway breakdown was first observed in laboratory discharges in the open atmosphere [ Stankevich and Kalinin , ; Tarasova and Khudyakova , ; Kremnev and Kurbatov , ] and was studied in the subsequent research (сf. [ Tarasova et al ., ; Babich et al ., ; Loĭko , ; Babich et al ., , ; Babich , , ; Dwyer et al ., ; Dwyer et al ., ; Nguyen et al ., ; Rep'ev and Repin , ; Babich and Loĭko , , ; Gurevich et al ., ] and literature cited therein). The mean energy of high‐energy REs in the case of “high‐field runaway” is significantly lower than that in RREA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the experiment on registration of X‐rays from the stepped leader of a cloud‐to‐ground lightning discharge

Babich¹,

Kutsyk²,

Donsko³

et al. 2013

JGR Space Physics

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[1] Using a Monte Carlo technique to simulate the transport of runaway electrons (REs) and X-rays in the atmosphere and through attenuators covering detectors, we have modeled the results of experiments to detect X-rays from triggered lightning and stepped leaders of a natural cloud-to-ground lightning. In the model, bremsstrahlung of high-energy runaway electrons (REs) generated at the leader front is assumed to be the origin of X-rays. Specific fluxes (per one RE) of photons and bremsstrahlung energy at the detectors were calculated. The analysis was executed with monoenergetic and exponential initial energy distributions of REs with different angular distributions. To reproduce the detected radiation energy of 1-2 MeV, a generation of~10 10 -10 11 REs per flash is required in the case with the beam angular distribution of monoenergetic REs with the energy in the range 1-10 MeV. The same result was obtained with the exponential energy distribution of REs with the average energy 7 MeV, i.e., with the average energy in the RE avalanche. The electric field amplifies the flux of the radiation energy, and the amplification becoming stronger as the RE source approaches the ground. In the case with an isotropic angular distribution of REs in the bottom hemisphere, with no electric field, (4-5) Â 10 9 REs are required for reproducing~1-2 MeV of detected X-ray energy. In addition, fluxes of photons and fluxes of their energy at the detectors, energy distributions of photons and their average energy were calculated.Citation: Babich, L. P., I. M. Kutsyk, E. N. Donskoı˘, and J. R. Dwyer (2013), Analysis of the experiment on registration of X-rays from the stepped leader of a cloud-to-ground lightning discharge,

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“…In 1992, Gurevich et al 1 considered the phenomenon of runaway breakdown, which was demonstrated later in laboratory experiments. 2,3 The physical essence of the mechanism of runaway breakdown is related to the Coulomb character of the cross section of a collision between highenergy electrons (1-10 keV) and neutral molecules: the cross section drops as 1/e e 2 for energetic electrons. Therefore, if the energy of an electron exceeds some critical value e cr and this electron propagates in an electric field also exceeding some critical value, E cr , corresponding to e cr , it gains more energy along one mean free path as compared with what it would lose in inelastic collisions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particle-in-cell simulations of the runaway breakdown of nitrogen

Levko

Krasik

2012

Journal of Applied Physics

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The runaway breakdown initiated by a mono-energetic beam of runaway electrons propagating through a cathode-anode gap filled with nitrogen at atmospheric pressure is studied using the one-dimensional particle-in-cell numerical model. It is shown that the breakdown is strongly influenced by the amplitude of the beam, its duration, and the electric field in the vicinity of the cathode. In addition, the simulation results showed that, in spite of the formation of rather dense plasma inside the cathode-anode gap by runaway electrons, the electric field is not screened because of frequent electron-neutral collisions. V

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Laboratory demonstration of runaway electron breakdown of air

Cited by 47 publications

References 17 publications

High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Related Phenomena

High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Related Phenomena

Analysis of the experiment on registration of X‐rays from the stepped leader of a cloud‐to‐ground lightning discharge

Particle-in-cell simulations of the runaway breakdown of nitrogen

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