Electron density fluctuations accelerate the branching of streamer discharges in air

Abstract

Branching is an essential element of streamer discharge dynamics but today it is understood only qualitatively. The variability and irregularity observed in branched streamer trees suggest that stochastic terms are relevant for the description of streamer branching. We here consider electron density fluctuations due to the discrete particle number as a source of stochasticity in positive streamers in air at standard temperature and pressure. We derive a quantitative estimate for the branching distance that agrees within a factor of 2 with experimental values. As branching without noise would occur later, if at all, we conclude that stochastic particle noise is relevant for streamer branching in air at atmospheric pressure.

5 pages, 4 figures

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• Spatially hybrid computations for streamer discharges: II. Fully 3D simulations
• The effect of the stochasticity of photoionization on 3D streamer simulations
• 3D fluid modeling of positive streamer discharges in air with stochastic photoionization
• Quantitative modeling of streamer discharge branching in air
• Inception and propagation of positive streamers in high-purity nitrogen: effects of the voltage rise-rate
• Why isolated streamer discharges hardly exist above the breakdown field in atmospheric air
• Simulations of positive streamers in air in different electric fields: steady motion of solitary streamer heads and the stability field
• Streamers in air splitting into three branches
• Laser-induced plasma formation and cavitation in water: from nanoeffects to extreme states of matter
• The onset of tree-like patterns in negative streamers
• Predicting Streamer Discharge Front Splitting by Ionization Seed Profiling
• 3D particle simulations of positive air-methane streamers for combustion