cbfull said:Yes, this has been done using a high power UV laser pulse, it was on the science channel a long time ago.
The pulse has to be very powerful because you need to create an ionized path in the air, basically choosing the path of the lightning instead of the path being created by a chaotic dielectric breakdown (air is a dielectric until a high enough voltage breaks it down).
I don't know if 532nm can ionize air at any power, but UV is known to do this relatively easily.
xochi said:Is this kind of the same idea as water being a conductor only when some minerals are disoved in it but an insulator when pure?