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Abstract

In this work it is shown that if the rates of ionization and electron loss are linear in the electron concentration ( n ), then the stability of the discharge is determined by the rates of dissipative processes even in the case when the stationary regime is determined by volume processes. To study the stability of the positive column of a fast-flowing steady glow discharge, a boundary value problem is solved for perturbations taking into account diffusion, thermal conductivity, and the characteristics of the external electrical circuit. It was found that the discharge stability is determined by the balance between growth rate of perturbations and their decay due to dissipative processes (mainly ambipolar or turbulent diffusion). These findings provide a consistent explanation for experimentally observed discharge behaviour and highlight the importance of transport processes, particularly under conditions of strong gas flow and turbulence.

Publication Date

1978-06-16

Publication Title

Труды МФТИ

Publisher

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Deposit Date

2026-05-02

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

First Page

159

Last Page

165

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