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Water Aerosol in an Artificial Analogue of Natural Ball Lightning

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Abstract

This article is dedicated to the study of a brightly glowing spherical formation called a plasmoid, which occurs with a special type of pulsed electric discharge above the water surface. The lifespan of a luminous ball is quite long; therefore, it is considered as an analogue of ball lightning, the nature of which has not yet received an exhaustive scientific explanation. An attempt is made to find out whether or not an aerosol is present in a plasmoid and what its chemical and dispersed compositions are. It is shown that when a laser beam passes through a plasmoid, the scattering of laser radiation on aerosol particles of different sizes is clearly observed. It has been established that the interior of a plasmoid is filled with an aqueous aerosol, which includes two fractions: one of them consists of particles of the submillimeter range, while the other contains a medium-dispersed aerosol. The total volume of the particles is estimated at several cubic centimeters. Hopefully, the results obtained will make it possible to advance in understanding the processes occurring during the formation of not only plasmoids but also natural ball lightning.

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Notes

  1. The Schlieren method is a method for detecting optical inhomogeneities in transparent refractive media and detecting defects in reflective surfaces (Ed. note.)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Voevodskii Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion (ICKC), Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia

    A. A. Cheremisin, V. P. Isakov, E. A. Shishkin & A. A. Onishchuk

  2. Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia

    E. A. Shishkin & V. N. Parmon

  3. Boreskov Institute of Catalysis (IC), Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia

    V. N. Parmon

Authors
  1. A. A. Cheremisin
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  2. V. P. Isakov
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  3. E. A. Shishkin
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  4. A. A. Onishchuk
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  5. V. N. Parmon
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Correspondence to A. A. Cheremisin, V. P. Isakov, E. A. Shishkin, A. A. Onishchuk or V. N. Parmon.

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Translated by B. Alekseev

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Aleksandr Alekseevich Cheremisin, Dr. Sci. (Phys.−Math.), is Head of the Division of Physics and Chemistry of Hish-Energy Systems at ICKC SB RAS. Vladimir Pavlovich Isakov, Cand. Sci. (Phys.−Math.), is Leading Engineer of the Laboratory of Disperse Systems at the same institute. Egor Anatol’evich Shishkin is a Postgraduate Student of the Faculty of Physics of Novosibirsk State University. Andrei Aleksandrovich Onishchuk, Dr. Sci. (Chem.), is Head of the Laboratory of Nanosystems and Director of ICKC SB RAS. RAS Academician Valentin Nikolaevich Parmon is an RAS Vice President, Chair of the RAS Siberian Branch, and Director for Science of IC SB RAS.

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Cheremisin, A.A., Isakov, V.P., Shishkin, E.A. et al. Water Aerosol in an Artificial Analogue of Natural Ball Lightning. Her. Russ. Acad. Sci. 93, 112–118 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1019331623010094

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1019331623010094

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