keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) (11/09/84)
> ... If I see ball lightning rolling down the >street towards me, than this is strong, legitimate evidence for the empirical >existence of ball lightning. ... > Topher Speaking of ball lightning, I seem to remember that Nikola Tesla was the only person to artificially create this phenomenon, and noone knows quite how he did it. Is this still true? Is anyone doing any experimentation? Keith Doyle {ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd
root@ucla-cs.UUCP (11/12/84)
In article <283@cadovax.UUCP> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) writes: > >Speaking of ball lightning, I seem to remember that Nikola Tesla was the >only person to artificially create this phenomenon, and noone knows quite >how he did it. Is this still true? Is anyone doing any experimentation? > Someone at Livermore has apparently recreated the phenomenon. He found some sort of surplus high-voltage equipment on the base and made it explode (somehow); ultra-high-speed photography revealed a bright "ball" that bounced several times on the ground. I saw this on a recent television show in Los Angeles. Anyone know who this guy is? Douglas
brownc@utah-cs.UUCP (Eric C. Brown) (11/13/84)
Actually, Nikola Tesla was the only person (as far as I know) who could *reliably and repeatedly* produce ball lightning. My information has it that ball lightning sometimes shows up around high-voltage posts, but nobody knows how it is created. Eric C. Brown ..!decvax!harpo!utah-cs!brownc
pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc) (04/03/85)
> do 3D field modeling to explore this, using a Cray somethingorother. Experiments are "mucho" cheaper in this case! > Is there any physics explaining ball lightning? (I've heard NO from > a variety of sources). Ball lightning is generated in nature by lightning strikes. It also has been formed by the collapse of magnetic field energy in toroidal field coils. Ball lightning is more likely to be formed globally (near the ground) in the bands between the tropics and the arctic. This is correlated with the distance from the earth's magnetic poles, and the frequency of observation is proportional to the out of doors population and, of course, where thunder storms are most common. Ball lightning is a magnetoplasmoid. From the outside it is a spheroidal plasma surface, upon which forms fragile blanket of NO2, O3, and NO5 (very explosive) gases. The gases generate odor (fire and brimstone) and filter out (absorb) most visible light) but do pass a little more of the reds and oranges. The photochemical blanket can be blown off with air tubulence. The "guts" or inside of ball lightning consists of a toroidal plasma current ring suspended within the spheroidal shell by its own self- generated external poloidal field. This field generates more pressure within the "hole" of the ring then around the "outside" rim; consequently, a confining pressure is needed to keep the ring from simply expanding continuously. Ninety percent plus of this force is provided by the second self generated field (toroidal) which exists within the plasma ring itself. The remaining (10%) force necessary is provided by the plasma pressure of the conducting plasma shell or mantle. The plasma pressure at the center of the toroidal axis is ~12 times the pressure at the mantle or air boundary (1 atmosphere). And, this plasma configuration is ideally MHD stable (Rosenbuth and Bussac, Nucl Fus, 19, 489,1979). Yes, it's harnessable for thermonuclear fusion. In fact, fusion almost looks like a "piece of cake" with this technology. Step 1. A tokamak (russian invention) is a stellarator with a toroidal plasma current replacing the stellarator's poloidal field (toroidal current) coil. Step 2. A spheromak (American invention) is a tokamak with the toroidal field (poloidal curent) coils replaced by plasma currents, and the vertical field coil replaced by conduction shell (usually). Step 3. A PLASMAK(tm) configuration (American) is a spheromak with the conducting shell replaced by a plasma shell and all thermal electron currents replaced by runaway electron currents (relativistic). US Patent 4,023,065 * tm - Trade mark of Prometheus II, Limited. +-------------------------------------------------------+--------+ | pmk@prometheus: (301) 445-1075 | FUSION | | Prometheus II Ltd., College Park, MD 20740-0222 | this | | ..!{umcp-cs,seismo}!prometh!pmk | decade | +-------------------------------------------------------+--------+ -- |-------------------------------------------------------|--------| | pmk@prometheus: (301) 445-1075 | FUSION | | Prometheus II Ltd., College Park, MD 20740-0222 | this | | ..!{umcp-cs,seismo}!prometh!pmk | decade | |-------------------------------------------------------|--------|
pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc) (04/05/85)
> It's a good theorem (virial). The explanation you gave for ball lightning > seemed to get around it by considering the external pressure (from the air) > as well as the internal fields. [Incidentally, I never heard this explanation > Can you give a reference?] It's my own theory, but the half physical embodiment of it (Spheromak) has caught on and we only need a few ten k$ to form the real thing in air. The advantages of the PMK are just now being recognized by the fusion fuddys and within a year, the work will begin to be published. The connection of ball lightning with fusion and toroidal geometries started in the 1950's. Names to check are Chandrasekhar, Lust & Schluter, Kapitsa, Bostick, Sweet, and Shafranov. VD Shafranov, "On Magnetohydrodynamical Equilibrium Configurations", J. Exptl. Theoret.Phys., 33, 710, 1957 (translation in Sov Physics--JETP, 5,545 1958 is a quite good one because the stable configuration discussed includes the plasma ring with the poloidal and toroidal currents and fields, non-respectively, with the presence of the external atmosphere supporting the plasma with direct contact. It is also pointed out that plasma currents near the surface would be sufficient to ionize neutrals. But this configuration lacks, 1) energetic electrons and a trapped external poloidal flux. Consequently, its energy density is too low and it has the "wrong" shape to be ball lightning. Trapping the external poloidal flux infers an insulating vacuum poloidal field (because of the hole) and conducting spheroidal shell or Mantle. It turns out that the tokamak has the same magnetic topology, but different physical embodiment. The spheromak is much more closely related to ball lightning, and papers by M Bussac, HP Furth, (Rosenbluth), et al., IAEA CN-37, Innsbruck, 1978, corrected by M Rosenbluth** & M Bussac, "MHD Stability of the Spheromak", Nuc Fus 19, 489, 1979. Check also Koloc & Ogden, US-Japan Joint Symposium on Compact Toruses, (First - 1979) and (Third - 1980) and there is even a patent on the apparatus and method US 4,023,065; 1977 (filed 1973). > people impressed by the ("virial") theorem, they insisted that ball lightning > that plasma can't confine itself with self-generated fields and therefore > is a fluorescence (glowing nebulous gas) phenomenon with little internal > energy. Yes, and it would be as a cloud of smoke in terms of "falling apart" with the slightest breeze. Actually, the model of Shafranov has 2 or three times the background energy density of air (one joule/cc), and the PMK model has 8 to 14 times. PMK's are like "super balls" and can bounce. It's also dangerous because of its energetic currents, (soft Xrays) and relativistic electron current beam induced transmutation of elements in bricks in a chimmey where the ball lightning explosively decayed. Further, the rapid collapse of the stray dipole field would set up killing image currents in the brain of any living thing in proximity. > > Note that the person who told me this was an expert on lightning. He was > giving a colloquium at Fermilab. Lightning is another story as is the tokamak. Theory and data for lightning just don't jive. Maybe later. Special Reverence **Marshal N. Rosenbluth of Lab. Theoretical Fusion Studies, University of Texas, Austin -- |-------------------------------------------------------|--------| | pmk@prometheus: (301) 445-1075 | FUSION | | Prometheus II Ltd., College Park, MD 20740-0222 | this | | ..!{umcp-cs,seismo}!prometh!pmk | decade | |-------------------------------------------------------|--------|
brooks@lll-crg.ARPA (Eugene D. Brooks III) (04/06/85)
> 14 times. PMK's are like "super balls" and can bounce. It's also dangerous > because of its energetic currents, (soft Xrays) and relativistic electron > current beam induced transmutation of elements in bricks in a chimmey where > the ball lightning explosively decayed. Further, the rapid collapse of the > stray dipole field would set up killing image currents in the brain of any > living thing in proximity. This is a little too much to swallow. If you ever come by a reference in a journal which explains the mystery of ball lightning I would like to see it.
pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc) (04/07/85)
> > It's also dangerous > > because of its energetic currents, (soft Xrays) and relativistic electron > > current beam induced transmutation of elements in bricks in a chimmey where > > ... .. etc. > This is a little too much to swallow. If you ever come by a reference in > a journal which explains the mystery of ball lightning I would like to see it. ------------------------------ W A R N I N G -------------------------- This is not a journal and will discuss the nature of ball lightning. But the bites are smaller and only the energetic currents will be discussed, and some evidence of X-ray damage (which usually indicates relativistic currents). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The tokamak is a toroidal device which is operated with "thermal electron" currents during normal use. However, the generation of "runaways occur when the working ranges of current driving EMF's vs particle density are being determined. For TFTR 10e13 particle densities and 50v per loop are enough to generate runaways. The drive profile has to be turned down after the initial lead pulse since the collision cross section for the hotter thermals drops as they heat up. The drive pulse is "on" for tens of milliseconds so that runaways above 5 mev have occurred, as evidenced by the the Wolfram (tungsten) limiters becoming radioactive when they were bombarded by the runaways after disruption. Similar multicircuit EMF voltage integrations of internal currents during the formation of ball lightnings are probable. Look at the higher driving voltages of lightning and the faster inductive collapse times. Our estimates are that electrons currents will be driven by loop EMF's of several tens of kv with accumulation times of 2 to 5 microseconds. Several thousand circuits will yield electron kinetic energies on the order of ten mev. This is also true of our proposed formation scheme, which generates the PMK structure (Mantle and Kernel vacuum field, currents and plasma) from a single energy storage bank. (Want to help send money or electronic framing camera or both, and we'll return the camera after a few months and with pictures). The only evidence of the elemental transmutation of ball lightning struck brick came from a Brit with plenty of initials (D. E. T. F. Ashby) who is responsible for some significant portion of the UK component of the JET work at Culham. Check out a book "Nature of Ball Lightning" by Stanley Singer, Plenum Press 70. Monday I will be meeting (first time) with an Air Force radiologist (MD, PhD), that spent a year working with the French Government verifying and estimating the extent and nature of radiation burns caused by proximate human encounters with ball lightnings. I'll get back to you bye email with references. This damage is probably due to soft X-rays, generated by the small angle scattering of the DENSE beam currents within the bl. Incidently, the first Spheromak generated by G Goldenbaum of the University of Maryland, Laboratory for Plasma and Fusion Energy Studies, had toroidal currents (.55 kamp) exceeding the then largest tokamak the PPPL's PLT (Princeton) although the diameter was only six inches. (thermals) The L/R time for energetic currents are ~10 sec, and for thermals a few ~10 microseconds. Loss of energetic currents would cause a catastophic decay. Consequently, the high internal magnetic energy density, the field collapse, flash ohmic heating of the plasma could easily explain the huge shock detonations associated with ball lightning disruption. The instaneous collapse of any stray dipole field (~ 1 or 2 kg that is non-neutralized by mantle currents) of the bl could easily generate killing EMF's and >1amp lethal brain shocking currents. Professor Richman's body had no apparent external damage. BEWARE OF CATHODE RAYS !! !! -- |-------------------------------------------------------|--------| | pmk@prometheus: (301) 445-1075 | FUSION | | Prometheus II Ltd., College Park, MD 20740-0222 | this | | ..!{umcp-cs,seismo}!prometh!pmk | decade | |-------------------------------------------------------|--------|
lagasse@biomed.UUCP (Robert C. Lagasse) (06/12/85)
Can anyone explain the phenomenon of ball lightning? How fast does it move through a room, what materials can or cannot it go through, what is it attracted to, how is it generated, and has anyone had any true (unaltered, no fish stories please) experiences with it?? Any info greatly appreciated. "Too lazy to look it up in the encyclopedia,....besides, this is more fun." Bobby L @ MGH