Explosive electron emission and the portion model of the electric arc

Abstract

Some parameters and dependences characteristic of the electric arc phenomenon had no satisfactory explanation for a long time. The study of cathodic processes, especially the discovery of explosive electron emission, has made it possible to propose a new model in which previous anomalies turned into regular features. This became possible owing to experimental studies and the solution of a number of applied tasks associated with the development of high-current electronics. As a result, scientists abandoned describing cathodic processes as processes on solid-state metal, switched from stationary imaging of their course to portion imaging, and, thus, reviewed a number of important ideas in the physics of electric discharges. At a meeting of the RAS Presidium, Academician G.A. Mesyats told the audience how the discovery of one phenomenon, explosive electron emissions, has helped to make progress in both basic research and practical applications and presented the results obtained over the past two years.