We describe the recently discovered phenomenon of the formation of an extended luminous structure at the bend of the channel of a high-voltage pulse discharge. It is called the apokamp (from the Greek words απ — ‘from’ and κάμπη — ‘bend’), and the discharge as a whole is referred to as apokampic. In the course of experimental and theoretical studies, it is shown that the apokamp is a narrow streamer channel that propagates at a characteristic speed of tens to hundreds of km/s, depending on the applied voltage, pressure, and gas type. The necessary conditions for apokamp formation are established. The apokamp discharge is used for laboratory studies of conditions for the formation of blue jets and red sprites — large-scale transient luminous events (transients) observed in Earth’s atmosphere above areas with thunderstorm activity. The revealed signs of similarity between apokamps and blue jets are described. The proposed experimental setup can also be used for meaningful testing of hypotheses about the conditions of formation of transients in Earth’s atmosphere and in the atmospheres of other planets.

我们描述了最近发现的在高压脉冲放电通道弯曲处形成扩展发光结构的现象。它被称为 apokamp（来自希腊语 απ - “来自”和 κάμπη - “弯曲”），整个放电被称为 apokampic。在实验和理论研究过程中，表明 apokamp 是一种狭窄的流光通道，根据施加的电压、压力和气体类型，以数十至数百公里/秒的特征速度传播。apokamp 形成的必要条件已经建立。apokamp 放电用于实验室研究蓝色喷流和红色精灵的形成条件——在雷暴活动区域上方的地球大气中观察到的大规模瞬态发光事件（瞬态）。描述了 apokamps 和蓝色喷气机之间的相似之处。提议的实验装置也可用于对地球大气和其他行星大气中瞬变形成条件的假设进行有意义的测试。