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Laser Analogue to Ball Lightning

Nature volume 239, pages 394–395 (1972)Cite this article

Abstract

IT has been suggested1–3 that ball lightning consists4 of a plasma vortex ring, but an appropriate mechanism for the formation of this plasma configuration at the time of a lightning discharge has yet to be proposed. A vortex ring in a fluid may be produced by the application of an asymmetric impulse; the detonation of an explosive on a flat surface, for example, sometimes produces smoke rings. I suggest that ball lightning may be produced by a process similar to the ablation of a solid surface by a high power laser pulse.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Holloway College, University of London, Englefield Green, Surrey

    E. R. WOODING

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  1. E. R. WOODING
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WOODING, E. Laser Analogue to Ball Lightning. Nature 239, 394–395 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/239394a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/239394a0

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