Electric strength of a gas subjected to acceleration or retardation

An enclosed volume incorporating electrically stressed parallel plates subjected to mechanical acceleration or deceleration is considered. At atmospheric pressure, the electric strength of the gas is lowered by acceleration, but the reduction in strength is lowest when the acceleration is across the electric-field direction. Near the Paschen minimum, it is possible to increase the strength, and thus, by a judicious choice of variables, the influence of acceleration can be eliminated. Retardation produces the same effect. The accelerations required to produce a marked change in strength are attainable in practice. The analogy with the space-charge effect is pointed out.