The Electromagnetic Nature of "Anomalous" Runaway Electrons in Fast Gas Discharges

This paper proposes a comprehensive theoretical explanation of the physical phenomenon of runaway electrons having "anomalous" energies in nanosecond gas discharges. By using the example of a simple model problem of a single electron motion in the traveling wave electric field, it was shown that electron is capable to gain an energy much greater than the maximum of applied voltage multiplied by the electron charge. The detailed kinetic calculation in terms of numerical solution of Maxwell-Boltzmann system of equations is given further for the important case of one-dimensional axisymmetric gas diode. The obtained results are in good agreement with the existing experimental data.