Antimatter Signature Detected in Lightning

[durabone]

I study impulses in geomagnetic data, and seek often to exclude lighting bolt contamination from
our analyses. The idea that lighting can be accompanied by gamma ray bursts is pretty radical
given current thinking.

It’s a surprise to have found the signature of positrons during a lightning storm,

Briggs said

_http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/11/06/antimatter-signature-detected-in-lightning.html

_http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Anyone ever heard of such before? Thanks.

 

[John G]

Potamus, electron-positron pair production is a possible effect of gamma radiation, but perhaps one they weren't overly expecting to see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray

Pair production: This becomes possible with gamma energies exceeding 1.02 MeV, and becomes important as an absorption mechanism at energies over about 5 MeV (see illustration at right, for lead). By interaction with the electric field of a nucleus, the energy of the incident photon is converted into the mass of an electron-positron pair. Any gamma energy in excess of the equivalent rest mass of the two particles (1.02 MeV) appears as the kinetic energy of the pair and the recoil nucleus. At the end of the positron's range, it combines with a free electron. The entire mass of these two particles is then converted into two gamma photons of at least 0.51 MeV energy each (or higher according to the kinetic energy of the annihilated particles).
The secondary electrons (and/or positrons) produced in any of these three processes frequently have enough energy to produce much ionization themselves.

Gamma rays from thunderstorms could be related to the physics of the unusually named jets, sprites, and elves associated with thunderstorms.

http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/GRB.html#elfspritejet

 

[durabone]

Thanks Bluelamp; We are right around the corner from Stanford,
and I have great respect for Inan/Helliwell, and the rest of them.

Interesting link to Valdosta. Tony Smith is in Georgia. Now I get it.
A part of that page "Some GRBs may be LOCAL" further up is interesting
also, but I have the feeling you've already read it.

We have found at least one of the GRBs in our magnetometers over the
years, relying principally on ACE reports for confirmation. I saw a really
cool poster at AGU this year where a Chinese researcher uses these bursts
and other sudden commencement signal arrivals as illuminators for
measuring the Earth's reactance to these arriving bursts. Yes she has
enough sensors to make a map. The picture changes a lot more than I
would have guessed over time, like +/-6 nT isopodes appearing and
disappearing. ooops I ramble.