Possible models for the earliest prebreakdown events in DC stressed hexane

Observed phenomena in liquid hexane at a point cathode include the formation of a low-density region (LDR), a chain of growing electrical pulses, a succession of light flashes, and a final disruption and termination of the process. The authors address three separate effects: the inception of the process; the growth of the low-density region, with electrical pulses and light emission; and the break-up of the low-density region. It is shown that it is possible to predict the onset, growth, pulse and light phenomena, termination of growth, and break-up of the low-density region in terms of electrical and fluid dynamical processes