A model for ball lightning

Abstract. In this study, ball lightning (BL) is assumed to have a solid, positively-charged core. According to this underlying assumption, the core is surrounded by a thin electron layer with a charge nearly equal in magnitude to that of the core. A vacuum exists between the core and the electron layer containing an intense electromagnetic (EM) field which is reflected and guided by the electron layer. The microwave EM field applies a ponderomotive force (radiation pressure) to the electrons preventing them from falling into the core. The energetic electrons ionize the air next to the electron layer forming a neutral plasma layer. The electric-field distributions and their associated frequencies in the ball are determined by applying boundary conditions to a differential equation given by Stratton (1941). It is then shown that the electron and plasma layers are sufficiently thick and dense to completely trap and guide the EM field. This model of BL is exceptional in that it can explain all or nearly all of the peculiar characteristics of BL. The ES energy associated with the core charge can be extremely large which can explain the observations that occasionally BL contains enormous energy. The mass of the core prevents the BL from rising like a helium-filled balloon – a problem with most plasma and burning-gas models. The positively charged core keeps the negatively charged electron layer from diffusing away, i.e. it holds the ball together; other models do not have a mechanism to do this. The high electrical charges on the core and in the electron layer explains why some people have been electrocuted by BL. Experiments indicate that BL radiates microwaves upon exploding and this is consistent with the model. The fact that this novel model of BL can explain these and other observations is strong evidence that the model should be taken seriously.

Ball lightning caused by a semi-relativistic runaway electron avalanche

The electric charge of a lightning ball is found by comparing the electrohydrodynamic stabilities of a charged drop in an electrostatic suspension and a lightning ball floating in a superposition of the gravitational field and the surface electric field. It has been assumed that the electric field strength at the surface is limited by a breakdown value. For a lightning ball radius of 15 cm, its charge is estimated as several microcoulombs. Accordingly, the density of electrostatic energy accumulated in the lightning ball is on the order of one-hundredth of a joule per square centimeter. The density of the material that constitutes the lightning ball has been estimated for the case when the electric field strength at the site of its origination is several times higher than that in fine weather. The density of the lightning ball turns out to differ from that of air by only a few percents.

BALL lightning is characterized by the presence of a luminous mobile globe of high energy density produced in regions of considerable electrical activity. The properties of ball lightning have been outlined in recent surveys1–4. We are interested here in the few but significant cases of high energy ball lightning.

Ball lightning or faintly luminous floating spheres with radii of the order of ten centimeters appearing transiently in air notably during stormy weather continue to remain an unresolved phenomenon. It is suggested that these objects are organized structures constituted of an electrically charged spherical thin shell of electro-frozen dipole oriented water molecules carrying an electric charge, balanced by the internal negative pressure and outward electrostatic stress. A model presented, resembling the classical theory of the electron with Poincare stresses explain almost all observed attributes of this phenomenon. The possibility of realizing macroscopic spherical surface charge distributions in the vacuum and their implication on the problem of electron are commented.

In this chapter, the results of the latest research on ball lightening (BL) are presented. The study of BL usually goes in one of three directions: (1) gathering and observing data on BL processing; (2) analysis of BL’s influence results on various objects and the modeling of this influence; and (3) creation and development of BL models. In the chapter, these three specified directions are presented. We present descriptions of 46 cases of BL affecting people and determine that the main affecting factors are an electric current passing over a body of a victim and high-frequency radio irradiation acting on the tissues of a person in close contact with BL. Fifty cases of BL occurring inside and near airplanes have allowed us to conclude that BL can be formed at high altitudes and is capable of entering planes through existing apertures or apertures made by the BL itself. The results of formation of round apertures in glass by BL have been investigated, thus leading to the experimental modeling of this phenomenon. The case of elemental structural change of glass impacted by BL is shown. Processing of photographic and video data on which traces of natural BL are shown is performed. On the basis of this work, conclusions have been made that BL possesses an uncompensated electric charge and that the leaking of this charge leads, in some cases, to the occurrence of a corona-type discharge around the BL. Theoretical and experimental analysis of a new BL model is performed. According to this model, oxidation of finely dispersed silicon occurs inside a cover of silicon oxide. We show that such a model can explain the long duration and high-energy density of BL. Results of experiments on the creation of long-lived fiery spheres are described at the erosive capillary discharge at high pressures under which the occurrence of exploding balls is shown. Computer modeling of the “Gatchina” discharge, i.e., a discharge above a surface of water was performed. It is shown that in this discharge, the heated air’s vortex rises. Insufficient understanding of the electric phenomena of BL prevents our ability to progress in the understanding of the nature of BL. In this regard, the development of some positions of an electricity theory based on the classical hydrodynamic approach, as stated in the final paragraph of this chapter, is of particular interest.

In-process monitoring and adaptive control is increasingly expected for the decisive detection of laser welding defects and for the stable formation of sound welds since laser welding has been applied in several industries. The objective of this research is to obtain a fundamental knowledge of in-process monitoring and availability of adaptive control for laser spot and seam welding of pure titanium with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam. The reflected light and heat radiation from the laser-irradiated area were monitored in synchronism with 20,000 F/s high-speed video observation of a molten pool. With respect to in-process monitoring, it was found that the reflected light was sensitive to the molten area formation and the heat radiation had clear correlation to the molten pool sizes for respective laser powers. Moreover, the heat radiation intesity had a quick response to the rapid change of laser peak power, and then the correlation between the heat radiation and the molten pool size was maitained in the designed laser power. As for adaptive control, spatters and pores were drastically reduced by controlling laser peak power and pulse duration according to the obtained features of the heat radiation-monitoring signal.

In this paper, the phenomenon of light velocity invariance is analyzed by using a new etheric view, and the physical mechanism of light velocity invariance is given, the principle of constancy of light velocity and the principle of special relativity are modified, and the Lorentz transformation is deduced by using these two modified principles. The relationship between mass and speed, the relationship between time and speed, and the relationship between length and speed are reanalyzed, and physical explanations different from the Special Relativity are given. Experiments for verification of the new theory are designed and presented. Experiment 1: Verify that the kinetic energy of a particle is only related to the speed of the particle relative to the ether, independent of the observer’s motion. Experiment 2: Verify that magnetic field is produced by electric charge’s motion relative to ether, and is independent of the observer. Experiment 3: Redoing the Michelson-Morley experiment on the space station to prove the existence of the ether. Experiment 4: Simulation of the generation and reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field, thus proving that the magnetic field is generated by the relative motion of the electric charge to the ether. Experiment 5: Simulate the formation of the natural iron meteorites and show that the atom becomes smaller with the increase of the etheric density of the space. Experiment 6: Aberrations contrast experiment to prove that for the observers on Earth, according to the theory of this paper, stars have aberration but the light sources on Earth have no aberration; according to the theory of special relativity, there are aberrations for both the stars and the light sources on Earth.

Background: Paper papers and banknotes are known to be possible vectors for infections, and the incredible COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical necessity for efficient sterilization procedures. This research attempts to create a hybrid sterilization device that utilizes heat and ultraviolet (UV) light radiation. It employs the Design Science Research Method (DSRM) to tackle this urgent requirement. Methodology: The study follows the six-step DSRM framework, which begins with problem and motive identification, then defines solution aims, designs and constructs the device, and lastly assesses the system to prove its effectiveness. UV port, heat drawer, and control panel are the three primary components that constitute the prototype. To determine the effectiveness of the treatment, relevant microbiological strains, such as fungi, Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and other viruses were exposed to pre-contaminated papers at different intervals to heat and ultraviolet light. Results: The sterilization device that was developed displayed noteworthy effectiveness in withholding microbial contamination from paper documents. The device's effectiveness in sterilizing paper materials and ensuring their safe handling was demonstrated through an analysis of CFU reductions, which indicated a significant decrease when compared to untreated controls. A better result was seen when heat and ultraviolet light radiation were used together in a hybrid method. Conclusion: The study shows a brand-new hybrid sterilization device designed specifically for paper documents. This meets an urgent need that has become even more important since the COVID-19 pandemic. The heat-UV radiation from this gadget eliminates bacteria, lowering the risk of sickness and making paper goods safer. The DSRM framework can help to construct an organized strategy for conceiving, creating, and assessing innovative solutions to real-world problems.

This paper investigates the dynamics of anisotropic viscous spherical star under the effects of electromagnetic field for a radially moving observer relative to the matter distribution, i.e. a tilted observer. We formulate relationship between tilted and non-tilted quantities using the Einstein–Maxwell field equations. The dynamical equations and equations for the Weyl tensor are constructed to examine the inhomogeneities in the fluid configuration. It is found that different factors like heat radiation, shear viscosity, electric charge and in particular congruence of the tilted observer, affect the energy density inhomogeneity of the spherical star. Finally, we study stability of the system with non-tilted frame in the presence of charge.

We present, design and generate a new kind of vector optical fields with linear polarization distributions modeling to electric and magnetic field lines. The geometric configurations of "electric charges" and "magnetic charges" can engineer the spatial structure and symmetry of polarizations of vector optical field, providing additional degrees of freedom assisting in controlling the field symmetry at the focus and allowing engineering of the field distribution at the focus to the specific applications.

We study the charged scalar collapse in de Sitter spacetimes. With the electric charge, there is one more competitor to join the competition of dynamics in the gravitational collapse. We find that two factors can influence the electric charge. If we just adjust the charge conjugation, the electric charge effect is always perturbative at the black hole threshold. The electric charge can also be influenced by the initial conditions of perturbations. These initial parameters can be tuned to control the competition in dynamics and present us new and rich physics in the process of gravitational collapse. We give physical explanations on these phenomena found in dynamics. Furthermore we show that the properties of the gravitational collapse are universal and do not depend on spacetime dimensions.

In the course of an investigation into the nature of carbon filaments, such as are ordinarily used in the construction of incandescent lamps, my attention was arrested by certain variations in the amount of light emitted from filaments which were, to the best of my belief, of similar nature and composition, but which, when tested under precisely similar conditions, gave the most anomalous results. I was also struck with changes which occurred to a greater or less degree in the light yielded by certain lamps when re-tested subsequent to a shock of over-incandescence, or long continued hard running at a high temperature; the light yielded after this occurrence (indeed the light yielded by any lamps that had been much used) I found to be invariably lessened both in quantity and brightness, and to require a considerable increase in the energy supplied to it to produce from the same filament the light it originally gave.

Chromogenic thin films are crucial building blocks in smart windows to modulate the flux of visible light and heat radiation into buildings. Electrochromic materials such as tungsten oxide are well established in those devices. Sputter deposition offers a well-suited method for the production of such layers, which can also be used on an industrial scale. Tungsten oxide films were prepared by means of reactive ion-beam sputter deposition. The choice of distinct gas mixtures as well as the growth temperature during the sputtering process allows to tune the properties of the resulting layers. Especially, the variation in the growth temperatures was found to have an impact on the structure of the resulting samples and, as a consequence, on their optical and electrochemical properties. By specific choice of the reactive gas, the deposition of colorless transparent as well as blue films of different composition is possible. The optical transmittance in the visible spectral range was up to 75% for as-deposited oxygen-rich layers. Additionally, hydrogen-doped tungsten oxide samples were grown. Superior electrochromic switching was observed for H^{+}-doped layers, probably by some kind of preconditioning. This resulted in a value for the standardized optical coloration efficiency of 26.5 cm^{2}/C.


 Indonesia merupakan negara dengan iklim tropis karena letak geografisnya yang berada di garis katulistiwa. Hal ini menyebabkan Indonesia dipengaruhi oleh 2 musim, yaitu musim penghujan dan musim kemarau. Keadaan ini berpengaruh dalam proses perancangan bangunan sehingga diperlukan upaya yang sesuai yang dapat mengatasi permasalahan yang ditemui pada bangunan di daerah tropis. Arsitektur tropis merupakan suatu karya arsitektur yang dirancang khusus untuk mengatasi permasalahan – permasalahan yang ada di daerah tropis. Dalam arsitektur tropis terdapat beberapa prinsip yang mempengaruhi perancangan bangunan. Prinsip itu tediri dari kenyamanan thermal, aliran udara melalui bangunan, radiasi panas, serta penerangan alami pada siang hari. Yoga Retreat Center di Ubud merupakan suatu fasilitas wisata yoga yang berfokus untuk mewadahi seluruh kegiatan retret yoga. Letak site yang berada di daerah tropis sehingga penting untuk menerapkan prinsip-prinsip arsitektur tropis ke dalam bangunan untuk menciptakan kenyamanan kepada pengguna bangunan.