On the Theory of Corona Discharge

Fundamentals of microscopical theory of the corona discharge are considered. Main mechanisms of generation and disappearance of charged and excited particles are discussed for the example of the helium discharge. An important role of pair ionizing collisions of metastable particles is indicated. Field configurations and distributions of charged and excited particles in the discharge gap are obtained, the corona voltage‐current characteristics are calculated. It is shown that the presence of nonlinear ionization processes may result in hysteresis phenomena. In particular, on set and offset potentials of the corona discharge may differ considerably. Probable features of the corona discharges in some other gases are discussed qualitatively.