New data on space and time scales of relativistic runaway electron avalanche for thunderstorm environment: Monte Carlo calculations

Babich, L. P.; Kutsyk, I. M.; Donskoy, E. N.; Kudryavtsev, A. Yu.

doi:10.1016/s0375-9601(98)00268-0

Cited by 69 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Considering the fluctuations from shower to shower, we generate 2×10 6 In positive fields greater than 600 V/cm, the shower size increases as the field strength increases, and the amplitude is lower than 14.3% in an electric field of 1000 V/cm. The amplitude of the enhancement is much lower than that in a negative field of the same strength.…”

Section: Vertical Showers With Primary Energy 100 Gevmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1992, Gurevich et al [5] suggested an avalanche-type increase of the number of runaway electrons could lead to a new type of electric breakdown of gases in the atmosphere. They developed the theory of runaway breakdown (RB), now mostly referred to as relativistic runaway electron avalanche (RREA) [6]. Marshall et al [3,7], Dwyer [8] and Symbalisty et al [9] studied the strength of threshold field necessary for an avalanche to occur, which is dependent on the altitude.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of near-earth thunderstorms electric field on the intensity of ground cosmic ray positrons/electrons in Tibet

Zhou

Wang

Huang

et al. 2016

Astroparticle Physics

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Monte Carlo simulations are performed to study the correlation between the ground cosmic ray intensity and near-earth thunderstorms electric field at YBJ (4300 m a.s.l., Tibet, China).The variations of the secondary cosmic ray intensity are found to be highly dependent on the strength and polarity of the electric field. In negative fields and in positive fields greater than 600 V/cm, the total number of ground comic ray positrons and electrons increases with increasing electric field strength. And these values increase more obviously when involving a shower with lower primary energy or a higher zenith angle. While in positive fields ranging from 0 to 600 V/cm, the total number of ground comic ray positrons and electrons declines and the amplitude is up to 3.1% for vertical showers. A decrease of intensity occurs in inclined showers within the range of 0−500 V/cm, which is accompanied by smaller amplitudes. In this paper, the intensity changes are discussed, especially concerning the decreases in positive electric fields. Our simulation results are in good agreement with ground-based experimental results obtained from ARGO-YBJ and the Carpet air shower array. These results could be helpful in understanding the acceleration mechanisms of secondary charged particles caused by an atmospheric electric field.

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Section: Vertical Showers With Primary Energy 100 Gevmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of near-earth thunderstorms electric field on the intensity of ground cosmic ray positrons/electrons in Tibet

Zhou

Wang

Huang

et al. 2016

Astroparticle Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This avalanche mechanism is commonly referred to as the Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanche (RREA) mechanism (Babich et al 1998(Babich et al , 2001a. Although Wilson appears to have been aware of the runaway electron avalanche multiplication (Williams 2010), referring to it as a "snowball effect," he did not provide quantitative calculations of the avalanche properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…A solution has been proposed when it was theoretically realised and proved by kinetic simulations (Gurevich et al 1992, Roussel-Dupré et al 1994, Lehtinen et al 1997, Babich et al 1998) that a proper kinetic description of the avalanching process should take into account not only the generation of secondary electrons but also the production of high energy run-away electrons. This causes what these authors call "runaway breakdown" (RBD).…”

Section: Electron Avalanchesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physics of Electric Discharges in Atmospheric Gases: An Informal Introduction

2008

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Abstract.A short account of the physics of electrical discharges in gases is given from the viewpoint of its historical evolution and application to planetary atmospheres. As such it serves as an introduction to the papers on particular aspects of electric discharges contained in this issue, in particular in the chapters on lightning and the discharges which in the last two decades have been observed to take place in Earth's upper atmosphere. In addition to briefly reviewing the early history of gas discharge physics we discuss the main parameters affecting atmospheric discharges like collision frequency, mean free path and critical electric field strength. Any discharge current in the atmosphere is clearly carried only by electrons. Above the lower boundary of the mesosphere the electrons must be considered magnetized with the conductivity becoming a tensor. Moreover, the collisional mean free path in the upper atmosphere becomes relatively large which lowers the critical electric field there and more easily enables discharges than at lower altitudes. Finally we briefly mention the importance of such discharges as sources for wave emission.

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New data on space and time scales of relativistic runaway electron avalanche for thunderstorm environment: Monte Carlo calculations

Cited by 69 publications

References 5 publications

Effect of near-earth thunderstorms electric field on the intensity of ground cosmic ray positrons/electrons in Tibet

Effect of near-earth thunderstorms electric field on the intensity of ground cosmic ray positrons/electrons in Tibet

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

Physics of Electric Discharges in Atmospheric Gases: An Informal Introduction

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