Secondary Fast Breakdown in Narrow Bipolar Events

Abstract

The physical mechanism of Narrow bipolar events (NBEs) has been studied for decades but it still holds many mysteries. Recent observations indicate that the fast breakdown discharges that produce NBEs sometimes contain a secondary fast breakdown that propagates back in the opposite direction but this has not been fully addressed so far in electromagnetic models. In this study, we investigate fast breakdown using different approaches that employ a Modified Transmission Line with Exponential decay (MTLE) model and propose a new model, named “rebounding MTLE model,” which reproduces the secondary fast breakdown current in NBEs. The model provides new insights into the physics of the fast breakdown mechanism.