Estimation of number of runaway electrons per avalanche in Earth's atmosphere

TL;DR

This paper investigates the number of runaway electrons produced per avalanche in Earth's atmosphere, comparing simulation results with existing studies to refine estimates crucial for understanding thunderstorm-related phenomena.

Contribution

It provides new simulation data and analysis that challenge previous estimates of runaway electron numbers in atmospheric avalanches.

Findings

Simulation results suggest lower runaway electron counts than prior estimates.

Comparison with existing studies highlights the variability in avalanche modeling.

The study emphasizes the importance of accurate electron number estimation for atmospheric physics.

Abstract

The connection between thunderstorms and relativistic runaway electron avalanches is an important topic that has attracted the attention of many researchers. Among other things, there are a lot of various simulations of the dynamics of electron avalanches. This article was written mostly in response to the article "The critical avalanche of runaway electrons" by Evgeny Oreshkin et al, which shows rather large numbers for an estimate of the number of runaway electrons, but it also contains the results of our own simulation and comparison with other papers.