Contraction initiation mechanisms in a glow discharge: electrode initiation in a stationary discharge in a flowing gas

This paper presents experimental results on contraction intitiation in a stationary glow discharge in flowing nitrogen or air arising from stationary or pulsed perturbations produced at components of the sectional electrodes. It is shown that pulsed reduction in the resistance of a particular element causes the channel initiation current and the current in the electrode gap involved to exceed appreciably the corresponding currents in slow contraction initiation. The contraction patterns are described for initiation by cathode and anode components