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On amplifications of photonuclear neutron flux in thunderstorm atmosphere and possibility of detecting them

  • Fields, Particles, and Nuclei
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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 April 2014

An Erratum to this article was published on 29 June 2013

Abstract

The reliability of communications reporting observations of neutron flux enhancements in thunderstorm atmosphere is analyzed. The analysis is motivated by the fact that the employed gas-discharge counters on the basis of reactions 3He(n, p)3H and 10B(n; 4He, γ)7Li detect not only neutrons but any penetrating radiations. Photonuclear reactions are capable of accounting for the possible amplifications of neutron flux in thunder-storm atmosphere since in correlation with thunderstorms γ-ray flashes were repeatedly observed with spectra extending high above the threshold of photonuclear reactions in air. By numerical simulations, it was demonstrated that γ-ray pulses detected in thunderstorm atmosphere are capable of generating photonuclear neutrons in numbers sufficient to be detected even at sea level.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Russian Federal Nuclear Center VNIIEF, pr. Mira 37, Sarov, Nizhni Novgorod region, 607188, Russia

    L. P. Babich, E. I. Bochkov, I. M. Kutsyk & A. N. Zalyalov

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  1. L. P. Babich
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  2. E. I. Bochkov
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  3. I. M. Kutsyk
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  4. A. N. Zalyalov
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Correspondence to L. P. Babich.

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Original Russian Text © L.P. Babich, E.I. Bochkov, I.M. Kutsyk, A.N. Zalyalov, 2013, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal Eksperimental’noi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki, 2013, Vol. 97, No. 6, pp. 333–339.

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Babich, L.P., Bochkov, E.I., Kutsyk, I.M. et al. On amplifications of photonuclear neutron flux in thunderstorm atmosphere and possibility of detecting them. Jetp Lett. 97, 291–296 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0021364013060027

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