2003/02/19 by John Gilman, Gilman, John
Physics and Astronomy · #Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) #physics.chem-ph #physics.plasm-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.physics/0302063
arxiv created 2003/02/19 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
The phenomenon of ball lightning has been observed for a long time, but the nature of these luminous balls has been unknown. It is proposed here that they consist of highy excited Rydberg atoms with large polarizabilities that bind them together. Thus the cohesion of the balls comes from photon exchange forces (London dispersion forces) rather than the more usual electron exchange (chemical) forces. The cohesion in plasmas generated at the back faces of detonating explosives has a similar basis. Estimates are given to justify this interpretation.