Observation of hard radiations in a laboratory atmospheric high-voltage discharge

Abstract

The new results concerning neutron emission detection from a laboratory high-voltage discharge in the air are presented. Data were obtained with a combination of plastic scintillation detectors and 3 He filled counters of thermal neutrons. Strong dependence of the hard x-ray and neutron radiation appearance on the field strength near electrodes, which is determined by their form, was found. We have revealed a more sophisticated temporal structure of the neutron bursts observed during of electric discharge. This may indicate different mechanisms for generating penetrating radiation at the time formation and development of the atmospheric discharge.

Hard bremsstrahlung from a high-voltage atmospheric discharge and its anisotropy

“…For the runaway electron distribution functions of the form f ∼ W −β , reported in [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41], the results of the calculations are similar. The angular distributions obtained for the maximum energies W max = 200, 500 and 1000 keV are shown in Fig.…”

“…A combination of the electrodes in the form of a nee- dle cathode inside a cone and a hemispherical mesh anode was used in the experiments. This configuration was proved to be the most effective for generating radiation [30,31]. The influence of the shape of the electrodes on the generation of radiation in a laboratory atmospheric discharge was also mentioned in [35].…”

“…In order to study the laboratory analog of a highaltitude atmospheric discharge, an ERG installation was designed and built at the Lebedev Physical Institute. A series of experimental studies were carried out to investigate the breakdown of runaway electrons and the generation of radiation at the initial stage of the atmospheric discharge [27][28][29][30][31]. In our work [31], attention was drawn to the fact that the signals recorded by scintillation detectors, even those placed behind a thick (10 cm Pb) shield, can be caused not only by neutrons, but also by hard gamma radiation.…”

Anisotropy in hard bremsstrahlung from a high-voltage laboratory simulation of an atmospheric discharge

“…In order to study the laboratory analog of a high-altitude atmospheric discharge, an 'ERG' installation was reconstructed at the Lebedev Physical Institute. A series of experimental studies were carried out to investigate the breakdown of runaway electrons and the generation of radiation at the initial stage of the atmospheric discharge [27][28][29][30][31]. In our work [31], attention was drawn to the fact that the signals recorded by scintillation detectors, even those placed behind a thick (10 cm Pb) shield, can be caused not only by neutrons, but also by hard gamma radiation.…”

“…A series of experimental studies were carried out to investigate the breakdown of runaway electrons and the generation of radiation at the initial stage of the atmospheric discharge [27][28][29][30][31]. In our work [31], attention was drawn to the fact that the signals recorded by scintillation detectors, even those placed behind a thick (10 cm Pb) shield, can be caused not only by neutrons, but also by hard gamma radiation. However, the energies of the gamma quanta must greatly exceed the voltage applied to the discharge gap.…”