A Model for Ball Lightning
نویسنده
چکیده
A model for ball lightning (BL) is described. It is based upon the vorton model for elementary particles, which exploits the symmetry between electricity and magnetism. The core, or driving engine, of BL in this model is comprised of a vorton-antivorton plasma. The energy of BL, which derives from nucleon decay catalyzed by this plasma, leads, through various mechanisms, to BL luminosity as well as to other BL features. It is argued that this model could also be a suitable explanation for other luminous phenomena, such as the unidentified atmospheric light phenomena seen at Hessdalen. It is predicted that BL and similar atmospheric luminous phenomena should manifest certain features unique to this model, which would be observable with suitable instrumentation. Invited talk presented at the First International Workshop on the Unidentified Atmospheric Light Phenomena in Hessdalen, Hessdalen, Norway, March 23–27, 1994. ∗ Work supported by Department of Energy contract DE–AC03–76SF00515.
منابع مشابه
A Ball Lightning Model as a Possible Explanation of Recently Reported Cavity Lights*
The salient features of cavity lights, in particular, mobile luminous objects (MLO’s), as have been experimentally observed in superconducting accelerator cavities, are summarized. A model based upon standard electromagnetic interactions between a small particle and the 1.5 GHz cavity excitation field is described. This model can explain some features of these data, in particular, the existence...
متن کاملSimulation of the ball lightning phenomenon
Rendering images of outdoor scenes capturing the magnificence of the natural world is a challenging task for computer graphics. One natural phenomenon that has received no attention in the field of computer graphics and scarce attention in physics is ball lightning. A computer simulation would greatly improve animated sequences of thunderstorms where this rare feature most often occurs. A physi...
متن کاملCould Some Ball Lightning Observations be Optical Hallucinations Caused by Epileptic Seizures?
The great difficulty of encompassing all observed features of ball lightning into a single theory makes it highly probable that many observations and experiences which have no connection to ball lightning are also categorized as ball lightning experiences. In this note we compare the eyewitness reports of ball lightning and the symptoms of epileptic seizures of the occipital lobe as described i...
متن کاملBall Lightning–Aerosol Electrochemical Power Source or A Cloud of Batteries
Despite numerous attempts, an adequate theoretical and experimental simulation of ball lightning still remains incomplete. According to the model proposed here, the processes of electrochemical oxidation within separate aerosol particles are the basis for this phenomenon, and ball lightning is a cloud of composite nano or submicron particles, where each particle is a spontaneously formed nanoba...
متن کاملBall Lightning The Great Hopes and the Great Fears
The phenomenon of ball lightning still remains one of the greatest mysteries in the field of the plasma science and electromagnetism. Despite enormous contemporary advancements into the micro-world – the structure of elementary particles, nuclei, atoms, and the origin, evolution, and structure of the universe, the natural phenomenon of ball lightning, which literally appears right in front of o...
متن کاملRelativistic-microwave theory of ball lightning
Ball lightning, a fireball sometimes observed during lightnings, has remained unexplained. Here we present a comprehensive theory for the phenomenon: At the tip of a lightning stroke reaching the ground, a relativistic electron bunch can be produced, which in turn excites intense microwave radiation. The latter ionizes the local air and the radiation pressure evacuates the resulting plasma, for...
متن کامل