Petrov N I
Scientific and Technological Centre of Unique Instrumentation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 15 Butlerova str., Moscow, Russia, 117342.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 6;11(1):19824. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99336-3.
X-ray and γ-ray emissions observed in lightning and long sparks are usually connected with the bremsstrahlung of high-energy runaway electrons. Here, an alternative physical mechanism for producing X-ray and gamma-ray emissions caused by the polarization current and associated electromagnetic field moving with relativistic velocity along a curved discharge channel has been proposed. The existence of fast electromagnetic surface waves propagating along the lightning discharge channel at a speed close to the speed of light in vacuum is shown. The possibility of the production of microwave, X-ray and gamma-ray emissions by a polarization current pulse moving along a curved path via synchrotron radiation mechanism is pointed out. The existence of long tails in the power spectrum is shown, which explains observations of photon energies in the range of 10-100 MeV in the terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, as well as measured power spectrum of laboratory spark discharge.
在闪电和长火花中观测到的X射线和γ射线发射通常与高能逃逸电子的韧致辐射有关。在此，提出了一种由极化电流和以相对论速度沿弯曲放电通道移动的相关电磁场产生X射线和γ射线发射的替代物理机制。研究表明，存在沿闪电放电通道以接近真空中光速的速度传播的快速电磁表面波。指出了沿弯曲路径移动的极化电流脉冲通过同步辐射机制产生微波、X射线和γ射线发射的可能性。研究表明功率谱中存在长尾巴，这解释了在地面伽马射线闪光中观测到的10 - 100 MeV范围内的光子能量，以及实验室火花放电的测量功率谱。
