Traveling spark ignition system

A traveling spark ignition (TSI) system for a combustion engine, comprising:

• an ignitor including:
• parallel and spaced apart electrodes, including at least first and second electrodes forming a discharge gap between them, wherein the ratio of the sum of the radii of said electrodes to the length of the said electrodes is larger than or equal to 4, while the ratio of the difference of these two radii to the length of the said electrodes is larger than 1/3;
• polarizable ceramic material surrounding a substantial portion of said electrodes and the space between said electrodes;
• an uninsulated end portion of each of said electrodes being free of said polarizable ceramic material and in oppositional relationship to one another;
• means for housing said first and second electrodes and associated said polarizable ceramic material, including means for mounting said ignitor with said free ends of said first and second electrodes installed in a combustion cylinder of said engine;
• electrical means for providing a potential difference between said electrodes for initially providing thereto a sufficiently high first voltage for creating a channel formed of plasma between said electrodes, and thereafter a second voltage of lower potential than said first voltage, for sustaining a flow of current through the plasma in said channel between said electrodes, whereby an electric field from the potential difference between said electrodes and said magnetic field interact in a manner creating a force upon said plasma for causing it to move away from its points of origin, thereby substantially increasing the volume of said plasma.