Solitary wave effect in a dielectric barrier discharge afterglow in nitrogen

This paper is devoted to the study of an atmospheric pressure nitrogen dielectric barrier discharge afterglow guided in tubes. The luminous activity of this guided afterglow is experimentally and theoretically studied. After a transient phase, which could be correlated with the surface treatment of the tube's interior walls, a stationary regime is obtained in the tube leading to the flow of the excited gas with small energy dispersion. An interpretation given here suggests the appearance of a solitary wave effect in the tube comparable to that found in the blood vessels of the human body