Fast negative breakdown in thunderstorms
Fast negative breakdown in thunderstorms
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DOI：
10.1038/s41467-019-09621-z
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发表时间：
2019-04
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
J. Tilles;Ningyu Liu;M. Stanley;P. Krehbiel;W. Rison;M. Stock;J. Dwyer;Robert G. Brown;Jennifer G. Wilson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
J. Tilles;Ningyu Liu;M. Stanley;P. Krehbiel;W. Rison;M. Stock;J. Dwyer;Robert G. Brown;Jennifer G. Wilson
雷暴是研究空气中放电的天然实验室，在那里，巨大的时间，空间和能量尺度可以产生令人惊讶的现象，揭示我们对介电击穿的理解存在缺陷。最近的发现，如精灵，喷流，地面伽玛射线闪光，快速正击穿，突出了雷暴可以产生的复杂现象的多样性，并指出了主要基于实验室实验的电介质击穿理论之外的电击穿/放电机制的可能性。在这里，我们提出了一个这样的混淆发现，称为快速负击穿，这不符合我们目前的理解介电击穿。我们的适应射电天文成像技术研究极其短暂的闪电相关的事件证实，在雷暴电击穿可以开始与反向快速击穿的负极性，类似的，除了快速的正击穿预期从传统的电介质理论和最近的观察。快速负击穿的发现要求对空气中放电的物理描述进行补充。
Thunderstorms are natural laboratories for studying electrical discharges in air, where the vast temporal, spatial, and energy scales available can spawn surprising phenomena that reveal deficiencies in our understanding of dielectric breakdown. Recent discoveries, such as sprites, jets, terrestrial gamma ray flashes, and fast positive breakdown, highlight the diversity of complex phenomena that thunderstorms can produce, and point to the possibility for electrical breakdown/discharge mechanisms beyond dielectric breakdown theory based mainly on laboratory experiments. Here we present one such confounding discovery, termed fast negative breakdown, that does not fit with our current understanding of dielectric breakdown. Our adaptation of radio astronomy imaging techniques to study extremely transient lightning-associated events confirms that electrical breakdown in thunderstorms can begin with oppositely-directed fast breakdown of negative polarity, similar and in addition to fast positive breakdown expected from conventional dielectric theory and recent observations. The discovery of fast negative breakdown calls for an addendum to the physical description of electrical discharges in air.