Field distortion in gaseous discharges between parallel-plate electrodes

摘要

Different methods are described for evaluating the field distortion due to a radially symmetrical distribution of charges in a spark discharge between plane parallel electrodes. Poisson's equation is solved numerically using a relaxation procedure, and the results are compared with those obtained using less accurate methods, in particular the one-dimensional form of Poisson's equation. The application to the calculation of ionisation currents in gases between parallel-plate electrodes is discussed.