2004/10/31 by Reginald Smith, Reginald D Smith
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Engineering · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Chemical and Physical Studies #Electrohydrodynamics and Fluid Dynamics #Plasma Applications and Diagnostics #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0022-3727/38/7/008
published as J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 38 (2005) 1016-1020 · 5 pages
openalex publication_date 2005/03/18 · arxiv created 2005/04/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The glow discharge's main ionization breakdown processes have been understood for about one hundred years. The glow discharge, however, still remains an area of active research in relation to pattern formation and far-from-equilibrium systems. The primary and secondary ionization processes can be mathematically modelled as general branching processes. Not only is the Townsend breakdown criterion obtained but the ionization avalanche can be characterized as a branching set with a unique Hausdorff fractal dimension. These fractal dimensions can be utilized in applications using similarity principles and Paschen's Law.