The study of runaway electrons is thought to be fundamental to our understanding of High-Energy Atmospheric Physics.
Wilson's work in 1925,[2] research has been conducted to study the possibility of runaway electrons, cosmic ray based or otherwise, initiating the processes required to generate lightning.
[5] Recent measurements reveal higher-than-expected impurity ion diffusion in runaway electron plateaus, possibly due to turbulence.
The choice between low and high atomic number (Z) gas injections for disruption mitigation techniques requires a better understanding of the impurity ion transport, as these ions may not completely mix at impact, affecting the prevention of runaway electron wall damage in large tokamak concepts, like ITER.
[7] In addition, aspects of electron runaway have been simulated using the popular particle physics modelling module Geant4.