Acoustics and gas discharges: applications to loudspeakers

The main purpose of this review is to expound results related to the production of ordinary sound waves by electrical discharges. Work on different kinds of discharge especially glow, arc and 'true' corona are presented and classified according to the relative importance of different acoustic source terms, namely the 'heat' term and the 'force' term. Related fields such as lightning and thunder are also dealt with. Different applications are presented but emphasis is given to 'plasma' loudspeakers. Fields in which knowledge is not well established are also outlined.