Statistical Studies of the Electric Breakdown in Nitrogen in the Duration Range of 3 ms–60 min

The statistical characteristics of an electric breakdown in the nitrogen in the spike (cathode)–plane gap in the duration range of (3 × 10 –3 )–3600 s at voltages close to a static breakdown have been studied. It has been found that a probability of a gap breakdown is nonmonotonously distributed over time. The presence of maxima in the probability distribution confirms a contribution of some processes that both stimulate and suppress a breakdown. The typical times of the processes are ~30 ms, ~10 –1 s, and ~300 s.