Physics Commons^™

Propagation Speed Of Runaway Electron Avalanches, Lee M. Coleman, Joseph R. Dwyer

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

Simulations of relativistic runaway breakdown (RRB) are performed as functions of both time and space, resulting in explicit calculations of e-folding lengths (λ) and times (τ). The ratio of λ to τ agrees well with the speed of the avalanche, which ranges from 2.61 × 108 m sˉ¹ to 2.72 × 108 m sˉ¹. Thus, using the speed of light, c, for the ratio of λ to τ can cause a 10% error when estimating λ from τ. A 10% error in λ will cause a factor of three error in the predicted number of runaway electrons for every ten …