Scattering of centimeter radiowaves in a gas ionized by radioactive radiation: Cluster plasma formation

A theoretical explanation is proposed for an anomalously high reflectivity of air masses exposed to radioactive radiation relative to electromagnetic waves from the rf range. The mechanism of formation of the reflected signal is connected with a change in the electric parameters of the ionized gas. The concentration of free charges under the typical conditions of radioactive contamination is ten orders of magnitude lower than that required for the formation of an experimentally detectable reflected signal. The discrepancy between the values of reflectivity observed under the real conditions of radar probing and predicted theoretically on the basis of the elementary theory of a weakly ionized gas amounts to 20 orders of magnitude. It is shown that the inclusion of the variation of the mass and the critical capture radius of ions due to their hydration changes the difference between the theoretical predictions and the experimental observations insignificantly. The discrepancy becomes smaller (but only by 1.5 orders of magnitude) when the scattering of radiowaves from turbulent vortices is taken into account. The mechanism of the formation of the high reflectivity is associated with slowing down the recombination and with the accumulation of a profuse population of unrecombined ionic pairs stabilized in the clusters of water molecules. The steady-state concentration of such electrically neutral clusters is several orders of magnitude higher than the concentration of free hydrated ions. A variation of the intensity of ionizing radiation is accompanied by proportional variations of both components. The recombination barrier is formed as a result of drawing dipole molecules into the gap between ions at the final stage of motion of counterions towards one another before their recombination. The accumulation of ionic pairs ensures the multiple enhancement of the sensitivity of the electric properties of cold plasma to the effect of ionizing radiation. A quantitative kinetic theory of the effect is constructed. The numerical calculations of the parameters of the pre-recombination states of ions against the background of the molecular component are made using computer simulation at the microscopic level. The steady-state recombination rate is an exponential function of the pre-recombination barrier height and decreases rapidly even upon an insignificant change in the number of molecules involved in an ion recombination act. The obtained theoretical conclusions are confirmed by the independent results of observations of the strong absorption band in the atmosphere in the middle part of the IR spectrum, which is attributed to the anomalously high concentration of electrically neutral water clusters.