Colloquium Abstract - da Silva - 2026Mar27

March 27, 2026

11:00am Mountain

Caitano L. da Silva (NMT)

 

Thor Ragnarok: Common physics and methods across lightning research and astronomy

 

Abstract

At New Mexico Tech’s Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, perched atop the Magdalena Mountains, we investigate lightning with a suite of instruments that capture its signatures across the entire electromagnetic spectrum — from radio waves to visible light to gamma rays. These observations, combined with theory, support a modern view of lightning as a complex, non-equilibrium atmospheric plasma, displaying rich collective behaviors: including several types of ionization waves (streamer, stepped, and dart leader fronts, and return strokes), the ability to accelerate runaway electrons, and negative differential resistance. The plasma nature of lightning results in several complex phenomenological features, including its fractal structure, the contrasting behavior of positively- and negatively-charged extremities, the fact that leader channels are enveloped by streamer zones and corona sheaths, and multiple forms of nonlinearity and hysteresis. The physics of lightning has far-reaching consequences: altering atmospheric chemistry, igniting wildfires, and damaging critical infrastructure such as power transmission systems and wind turbines. In this talk, I'll present an overview of key open problems in lightning research and highlight how approaches shared with astronomy and astrophysics are advancing the field. These include: (1) line spectroscopy to probe plasma temperature; (2) radio interferometry using radio telescopes such as LOFAR and the LWA; (3) imaging of strange, low-brightness sources in the night sky; and (4) searching for inconspicuous sources of high-energy radiation in the Fermi Gamma-ray telescope data.


Local Host: Brian Svoboda

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