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Fluorescence excited in a thunderstorm atmosphere by relativistic runaway electron avalanches

  • Atoms, Molecules, Optics
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Abstract

The spectrum and spatiotemporal evolution of the fluorescence of an atmospheric discharge developing in the regime of relativistic runaway electron avalanche (RREA) generation have been calculated without involving the relativistic feedback. The discharges generating narrow bipolar pulses, along with the discharges responsible for terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, are shown to be relatively dark. Nevertheless, the fluorescence excited by a discharge involving RREAs can be recorded with cameras used to record high-altitude optical phenomena. A possible connection between a certain class of optical phenomena observed at the tops of thunderclouds and RREA emission is pointed out.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Russian Federal Nuclear Center, All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod oblast, 607188, Russia

    L. P. Babich & E. I. Bochkov

Authors
  1. L. P. Babich
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  2. E. I. Bochkov
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Correspondence to L. P. Babich.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © L.P. Babich, E.I. Bochkov, 2017, published in Zhurnal Eksperimental’noi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki, 2017, Vol. 151, No. 5, pp. 823–829.

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Babich, L.P., Bochkov, E.I. Fluorescence excited in a thunderstorm atmosphere by relativistic runaway electron avalanches. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 124, 701–706 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776117050090

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776117050090

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