Talk-Polywell.org

Agreed
Not totally agreed.

Hold up - I'm not done my Ph.D. yet. Still working on it...


That is the common understanding of the noun "heat", yes. However, the verb is a bit different (though as I noted in my previous post, it is still usually understood to refer to a thermal process). In special situations dealing with systems that exhibit substantial non-thermal behaviour, as Polywell is claimed to, the word "heating" may legitimately be extended to cover non-thermal energy addition. English does allow this sort of thing.

I am not here claiming that EMC2 has necessarily done this. They may (for all we know) simply be talking about a thermal plasma. But their choice of words does not prove it.

"Acceleration" as commonly understood means addition of kinetic energy with a corresponding increase in net momentum. Certainly it is (on its own, without elaboration) a misleading and inaccurate term for what electron injection is supposed to do in a Polywell.

Besides, just because the distribution is nonthermal doesn't mean it's beamlike. "Heating" is a much more useful term in general, unless you want to try to make one up...?


The difference is that they are conceptually two different things. Even if I were to grant (which I do not) that "heating" can only ever describe energy addition occurring very near thermodynamic equilibrium or having thermodynamic equilibrium as a proximate endpoint, the process of relaxation towards that equilibrium is still a separate physical process that requires a different word to describe it.

Basically, what tomclarke said.

In fact, heating even in the conventional sense generally involves an excursion from thermodynamic equilibrium, which thermalization is then required to counter. For instance, if you assume complete thermodynamic equilibrium in a fluid, you end up with the Euler equations...

I feel that English allows some freedom with verbs.
But as I know nobody calls accelerators "heaters".
Especially in official documents. More likely that word "heating" there means "increasing intensity of chaotic/thermal motion".

In Russian/Georgian we use term “thermalization” but only as slangy word and also meaning "increasing intensity of chaotic/thermal motion". Regardless to has system achieved thermal equillibrium or has not.

Good luck with your PhD work.

Why is it so hard to communicate that "heating" is raising the total distribution curve, while "thermalising" is flattening the distribution curve. Ie. Higher average, and flatter distribution?

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What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

There seems to be an assumption that the government report was written by someone that was very careful in the scientific meaning of the words. I wouldn't wager money on that myself. Also, in previous reports, "heating" seems to have been interchangeably used with adding energy to the system.
Best regards

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Not strictly accurate. It's possible to specify a distribution function that most people would agree is "flatter" than a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution; in such a case, the thermalization process would steepen the curve. I expect that something like this is what happens when fluid exiting a shock wave experiences an entropy decrease.


You're missing the point, and may need to read more carefully.


Thanks. I could use some...

I do not see what I am missing and where. As it would be more clear for me if there would be written "Improvement of electron guns for improvement of depth of potential well" instead of "better heating".

The point was to fill out a required form, not to say anything meaningful. So long as it looked good enough to pass muster to the government clerk who received the form, nothing more would be written. The more detail they give the more that they have explain to people who wouldn't understand. Think DMV.

Yes, for Government clerk publishing financial reports it's all the same in which form energy will be pumped into the system. But I am recalling the correspodence between Dr. Nebel and USPO examinator. In which USPO examinator who is Government clerk too told also about thermal plasma comparing Polywell with Russian Galatea.

Thanks, I'll think about this.

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The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

I have to wonder what DMV looks like in the former Soviet Union...

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The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

What is "DMV"?

It's a government office that exists in most U.S. states (well, all U.S. states, but they're not always called the "DMV"), where people go to wait in long lines and fill out paperwork, two skills that are apparently regarded as essential to properly operate a vehicle.

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“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.” —attr. to Andy Finkel, among others

Thank you for clarification.

I have been out of the loop for a while what is the RT video?

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Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.