Thunderstorms and lightnings are natural particle accelerator systems. Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, caused by relativistic runaway electron avalanches, produce bursts of X and γ rays, energetic enough to produce photo-nuclear reactions within the atmosphere. Such reactions cause the generation of new isotopes, which modify the air composition locally and produce new ways of detecting and characterizing this high-energy phenomena. In this work we explore, using the general purpose Monte Carlo transport code FLUKA, the production of secondaries after a Terrestrial gamma-ray flash and analyze the generation of new isotopes in detail. Their abundance, time and energy profiles are studied, which can be useful for establishing new measuring strategies.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2004.13416,
title = {Isotope production in thunderstorms},
author = {Pablo G. Ortega},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.13416},
year = {2020}
}