Related papers: Laser-guided lightning
This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of high-energy radiation from thunderstorms and…
We investigate the reversibility of laser filamentation, a self-sustained, non-linear propagation regime including dissipation and time-retarded effects. We show that even losses related to ionization marginally affect the possibility of…
Laser science has tackled physical limitations to achieve higher power, faster and smaller light sources. The quest for ultra-compact laser that can directly generate coherent optical fields at the nano-scale, far beyond the diffraction…
White-light flares are the flares with emissions visible in the optical continuum. They are thought to be rare and pose the most stringent requirements in energy transport and heating in the lower atmosphere. Here we present a nearly…
The absorption of a high-energy photon from the external cosmic gamma-ray background in the inner neutron star magnetosphere triggers the generation of a secondary electron-positron plasma and gives rise to a lightning - a lengthening and…
The propagation and energy coupling of intense laser beams in plasmas are critical issues in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion. Applying magnetic fields to such a setup has been evoked to enhance fuel confinement and heating, and…
Lightning discharge is a complicated process with relevant physical scales spanning many orders of magnitude. In an effort to understand the electrodynamics of lightning and connect physical properties of the channel to observed behavior,…
When a relativistic laser pulse with high photon density interacts with a specially tailored thin foil target, a strong torque is exerted on the resulting spiral-shaped foil plasma, or light fan. Because of its structure, the latter can…
The maximum measured electric fields in thunderclouds are an order of magnitude less than the fields required for electric breakdown of the air. One explanation for lightning initiation in these low fields is that electric breakdown first…
In recent years, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) has seen a steep rise in the sensitivity of measuring the distances of remote objects. Here, we propose to enhance the sensitivity of LIDAR even further by exploiting Dicke's concept of…
Relativistic transparency enables volumetric laser interaction with overdense plasmas and direct laser acceleration of electrons to relativistic velocities. The dense electron current generates a magnetic filament with field strength of the…
A large filament composed principally of two sections erupted sequentially in the southern hemisphere on January 26 2016. The central, thick part of the northern section was first lifted up and lead to the eruption of the full filament.…
We investigate ablation experiments performed by laser-plasma-filament guided electrical discharges at high-voltages of up to 145 kV. The guiding was accomplished via fs-laser-generated plasma filaments across a gap of 201 mm of air onto…
We have investigated field emission patterns from a clean tungsten tip apex induced by femtosecond laser pulses. Strongly asymmetric modulations of the field emission intensity distributions are observed depending on the polarization of the…
Strong electromagnetic pulses (EMP) are generated from intense laser interactions with solid-density targets, and can be guided by the target geometry, specifically through conductive connections to the ground. We present an experimental…
Soar filament eruptions are often associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are the major impacts on space weather. However, the fine structures and the trigger mechanisms of solar filaments are still unclear. To…
A precise ground based telescope system was developed for laser communication experiments with the geostationary satellite ARTEMIS of ESA. Precise tracking of the satellite was realized by using time resolved coordinates of the satellite.…
The propagation of short lightpulses in waveguiding structures with optical feedback, in our case optical microresonators, has been studied theoretically and experimentally. It appears that, dependent on the measurement set-up, ballistic…
In the diffraction pattern produced by a half-plane sharp edge when it obstructs the passage of a laser beam, two characteristic regions are noticeable. There is a central region, where it can be noticed the diffraction of laser light in…
Lightning strikes are a well-known danger, and are a leading cause of accidental fatality worldwide. Unfortunately, lightning hazards seldom make headlines in international media coverage because of their infrequency and the low number of…