A spark gap at pressures from 100 kPa to 7 MPa with various gases is fired by overvolting the electodes. The recovery of the gap is studied using a second identical pulse to test the voltage holdoff during the recovery period. A TV camera, interferometer and a spinning mirror camera are also used to record arc locations and density profiles. The gas is stationary during the recovery. Breakdown ...

We show that the response to an electric field, in models of the Integral Quantum Hall effect, is analytic in the field and has isolated essential singularity at zero field. We also study the breakdown of Chern numbers associated with the response of Floquet states. We argue, and give evidence, that the breakdown of Chern numbers in Floquet states is a discontinuous transition at zero field. Th...

First measurements of the breakdown threshold in a dielectric subjected to GV/m wakefields produced by short (30-330 fs), 28.5 GeV electron bunches have been made. Fused silica tubes of 100 microm inner diameter were exposed to a range of bunch lengths, allowing surface dielectric fields up to 27 GV/m to be generated. The onset of breakdown, detected through light emission from the tube ends, i...

There is a growing need for high energy density capacitors in modern electric power supplies. The creation of nanocomposite systems based on one-dimensional nanofibers has shown great potential in achieving a high energy density since they can optimize the energy density by exploiting both the high permittivity of ceramic fillers and the high breakdown strength of the polymer matrix. In this pa...

A fast and accurate computer simulation program for electron drift and diffusion in gases under the influence of electric and magnetic fields is described and some calculated results are compared to precise experimental results in carbon tetraflouride and methane mixtures. The calculated Lorentz angles are shown to be typically within 1° of the measured experimental values. The program allows t...