Onset of treelike patterns in negative streamers.
We present analytical and numerical studies of the initial stage of the branching process based on an interface dynamics streamer model in the fully three-dimensional case. This model follows from fundamental considerations on charge production by impact ionization and balance laws, and leads to an equation for the evolution of the interface between ionized and nonionized regions. We compare some experimental patterns with the numerically simulated ones, and give an explicit expression for the growth rate of harmonic modes associated with the perturbation of a symmetrically expanding discharge. By means of full numerical simulation, the splitting and formation of characteristic treelike patterns of electric discharges is observed and described.
Área de Electromagnetismo, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Camino del Molino s/n, 28943 Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain.
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Fontelos
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Kindelán