Hello,
The latest Polywell Post - "Response to comments." is now up.
http://thepolywellblog.blogspot.com/201 ... ments.html
New Polywell Post is up
New Polywell Post is up
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Your arguments concerning my comments on your previous edition mentioned the magnetic mirroring effect (reversing or bouncing) at the areas where the magnetic field gradient is the greatest ( the mid-line of the cusp) would indeed seem to segregate inside and outside electrons. But this ignores what I think is the DOMINATE FORCE acting on the electrons once they pass the midpoint of the cusp. That dominate effect is the positive voltage on the magrid. While the electron is inside the magrid the voltage on the magrid is invisible to the electron, Better to say that the internal electron sees the magrid potential, but it sees all of the magrid potential surfaces. There is always as much magrid potential behind it as there is ahead of it. Once outside, the electron has reached its maximum energy (at the bottom of its potential well). But, suddenly all of the magrid potential is behind it and it sees the voltage. So long as the electron has not been upscattered above this potential, it will stop and be accelerated back through the cusp at the drive voltage. This action is pretty much indistinguishable from what happens to the low voltage electrons emitted from the electron guns.
The key point here is that the potential well is not almost equal to the drive voltage. It is perhaps 80-85% of the drive voltage. So, an internal non upscattered electron that hits the cusp at an angle that allows it to penetrate the cusp without being mirrored back , will be exposed to the magrid potential and be accelerated towards it. The magnetic fields guide the electron past the magrid, but remember magnetic fields do not change the velocity of a charged particle (no acceleration), only its direction. The speed of the charged particle does not change as it approaches a reflection or bounce point. It's vector changes, but not its speed. It exchanges forward velocity along a field line into a a higher velocity along the gyro radius. The net velocity of the particle does not change. Consider a satellite flying in a straight line- it may cover a lot of distance. But orbiting the Earth, it is traveling just as fast, but it is going nowhere. That is about the extent of my understanding of the magnetic effects. I'm sure it becomes increasing complex as you consider minute details.
If the drive potential equaled the potential well depth, I'm sure the interactions in the cusps would be much more interesting. Given that, what happens to the upscattered electrons that are very close to the drive voltage? Their dwell time outside the magrid would be longer . Interactions with other charged particles would make things interesting. I do not understand the complexities of cusp plugging, but I have the impression that this does not play much of a role in the Polywell, at least not the WB6 design. Remember, in WB6, even after Wiffleball trapping and recirculation, there was ~ 40 amps of electron current going to the walls. That is a lot of charged particles contributing to scattering reactions and, I think, inhibiting any strong static situations developing outside of the magrid*. Also, there is mention in the 2008 patent application that the electrons need to stay stuck to the external field lines until they are removed from the system or recirculated. This suggests that there should not be large clouds of electrons (or other charged particles) lingering around in the low magnetic field strength areas around the center of the cusps as they extend towards the walls. I don't know how much this has to do with arcing concerns to the vessel walls, or perhaps more importantly, to electron or ion gun structures that are placed in line with the cusps.
That is why the Wiffleball concept of marbles bouncing around in a sphere with small physical holes is a convenient approximation. It doesn't accurately reflect what is going on, but it illustrates the end results well.
*Ignoring some effects, like an induced potential on insulated standoffs.
Dan Tibbets
The key point here is that the potential well is not almost equal to the drive voltage. It is perhaps 80-85% of the drive voltage. So, an internal non upscattered electron that hits the cusp at an angle that allows it to penetrate the cusp without being mirrored back , will be exposed to the magrid potential and be accelerated towards it. The magnetic fields guide the electron past the magrid, but remember magnetic fields do not change the velocity of a charged particle (no acceleration), only its direction. The speed of the charged particle does not change as it approaches a reflection or bounce point. It's vector changes, but not its speed. It exchanges forward velocity along a field line into a a higher velocity along the gyro radius. The net velocity of the particle does not change. Consider a satellite flying in a straight line- it may cover a lot of distance. But orbiting the Earth, it is traveling just as fast, but it is going nowhere. That is about the extent of my understanding of the magnetic effects. I'm sure it becomes increasing complex as you consider minute details.
If the drive potential equaled the potential well depth, I'm sure the interactions in the cusps would be much more interesting. Given that, what happens to the upscattered electrons that are very close to the drive voltage? Their dwell time outside the magrid would be longer . Interactions with other charged particles would make things interesting. I do not understand the complexities of cusp plugging, but I have the impression that this does not play much of a role in the Polywell, at least not the WB6 design. Remember, in WB6, even after Wiffleball trapping and recirculation, there was ~ 40 amps of electron current going to the walls. That is a lot of charged particles contributing to scattering reactions and, I think, inhibiting any strong static situations developing outside of the magrid*. Also, there is mention in the 2008 patent application that the electrons need to stay stuck to the external field lines until they are removed from the system or recirculated. This suggests that there should not be large clouds of electrons (or other charged particles) lingering around in the low magnetic field strength areas around the center of the cusps as they extend towards the walls. I don't know how much this has to do with arcing concerns to the vessel walls, or perhaps more importantly, to electron or ion gun structures that are placed in line with the cusps.
That is why the Wiffleball concept of marbles bouncing around in a sphere with small physical holes is a convenient approximation. It doesn't accurately reflect what is going on, but it illustrates the end results well.
*Ignoring some effects, like an induced potential on insulated standoffs.
Dan Tibbets
To error is human... and I'm very human.