Simulation of the Streamer Propagation in a Small Region with Monte Carlo Photoionization
摘要
The results of a centimeter-scale study of the streamer development in air are presented. The numerical simulation is performed using the open-source Afivo-streamer code. Photoionization, which significantly contributes to streamer branching, is taken into account using a Monte Carlo approach. The pressure varies in the range of 500–1000 mbar, and the background electric field is 6–15 kV/cm. The streamer development dynamics is studied for a single seed and two spatially separated seeds located parallel to each other with a vertical offset. Electron density distributions show that the increase in pressure and background field leads to rapid and complex branching, increase in the electron density in streamer channels, and merging of adjacent structures. The distributions of the