Ball lightning as an example of a magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium
Phys. Rev. E 52, 3034 – Published 1 September, 1995
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.52.3034
Abstract
Magnetohydrodynamic equilibria appropriate for describing ball lightning are discussed in this paper. It is argued that lightning-induced fireballs should have a magnetic field decaying at infinity. Such equilibria, in fact, have a vanishing magnetic field outside a singly connected plasma region and are confined by the atmospheric pressure only. An equilibrium of this type with a spherical plasma boundary is investigated, and characteristic quantities are computed. Perturbation of the pressure and current profiles leads to deformation of the spherical plasma boundary, thus indicating the existence of a large class of equilibria with a nonspherical boundary. Finally, some remarks are made concerning the stability of these equilibria.