Prebreakdown phenomena in dielectric liquids

A synthesis of a number of characteristic features of prebreakdown phenomena in liquids is presented. The author first reviews the physical properties of fluids (particularly their electronic properties). He then considers prebreakdown phenomena in divergent fields (point-plane) in two steps; first, he shows how injection of charge carriers in the two polarities of the point is produced, how many multiplication by avalanches takes place and what its consequences are, e.g., bubble generation, streamer initiation. Second, he examines streamer propagation, and the models proposed to describe it. Finally, he addresses prebreakdown phenomena in uniform or quasi-uniform fields.