Moving boundary approximation for curved streamer ionization fronts: Numerical tests

TL;DR

This paper tests a theoretical moving boundary approximation for curved streamer ionization fronts against numerical simulations, confirming predictions about electric field behavior related to front curvature.

Contribution

It provides numerical validation for a recently extended moving boundary model that includes effects of front curvature in streamer ionization.

Findings

Electric field inside the streamer is nonzero and proportional to curvature.

Theoretical predictions match numerical simulation results.

Validation supports the extended moving boundary approximation.

Abstract

Recently a moving boundary approximation for the minimal model for negative streamer ionization fronts was extended with effects due to front curvature; this was done through a systematic solvability analysis. A central prediction of this analysis is the existence of a nonvanishing electric field in the streamer interior, whose value is proportional to the front curvature. In this paper we compare this result and other predictions of the solvability analysis with numerical simulations of the minimal model.