dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaOn the mechanism of branching in negative ionization fronts
| Authors | M. Arrayas, M. A. Fontelos, J. L. Trueba |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0505129 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0505129 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.165001 |
Abstract
We explain a mechanism for branching of a planar negative front. Branching occurs as the result of a balance between the destabilizing effect of impact ionization and the stabilizing effect of electron diffusion on ionization fronts. The dispersion relation for transversal perturbation is obtained analytically and reads: $s = |k|/[2 (1 + |k|)] - D |k|^2$, where $D$, which is assumed to be small, is the ratio between the electron diffusion coefficient and the intensity of the externally imposed electric field. We estimate the spacing $\lambda$ between streamers in a planar discharge and deduce a scaling law $\lambda \sim D^{1/3}$.
{
"annotation_id": "ffe5d7dc-f98f-4371-b6f0-5f4086993278",
"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:00:57.337000Z",
"date_modified": "2026-03-02T18:00:57.337000Z",
"file_hash": "3bc4898cb73b60f8770adf4e28fa0b868e025b8d56c57ae7164329b0d87c98ac",
"private": false,
"record": {
"abstract": "We explain a mechanism for branching of a planar negative front. Branching\noccurs as the result of a balance between the destabilizing effect of impact\nionization and the stabilizing effect of electron diffusion on ionization\nfronts. The dispersion relation for transversal perturbation is obtained\nanalytically and reads: $s = |k|/[2 (1 + |k|)] - D |k|^2$, where $D$, which is\nassumed to be small, is the ratio between the electron diffusion coefficient\nand the intensity of the externally imposed electric field. We estimate the\nspacing $\\lambda$ between streamers in a planar discharge and deduce a scaling\nlaw $\\lambda \\sim D^{1/3}$.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0505129",
"authors": [
"M. Arrayas",
"M. A. Fontelos",
"J. L. Trueba"
],
"categories": [
"physics.flu-dyn",
"physics.plasm-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.165001",
"title": "On the mechanism of branching in negative ionization fronts",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0505129"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "af41b337-572d-47c8-8a2d-010e8618a97b",
"id": "arXiv Dataset IDs",
"type": "Model",
"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
"version": "0.1.0"
},
"user_id": 1000002
}