The Physics of the Aether — Research by Harold Aspden
Peer-reviewed papers and publications by Harold Aspden
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The following is a reference to a monograph by H. Aspden published privately in 1960.
This is the earliest reference which introduces the author’s theory. For further information see the author’s website www.aspden.org.
The following is a U.K. Patent Application filed on December 6, 1955 by The English Electric Company Limited, Harold Aspden being the sole inventor. It was published on August 6, 1959.
Commentary: This is a patent concerning ballistic missile guidance control, where accelerometers are used to provide control data which can be integrated to provide a measure of distance travelled.
The invention concerns overcoming a difficulty encountered in guided missile control systems in the monitoring of time as between the projected travel of the missile to its target and the time during which the accelerometer system has been operating. The invention provides a secondary stator interacting with the accelerometer rotor used to apply a controlled reaction torque with provision for stabilizing the system when the restraint is absent.
The following is a U.K. Patent Application filed on July 1, 1955 by The English Electric Company Limited, Harold Aspden being co-inventor with E. K. Sandeman. It was published on July 2, 1958.
Commentary: This is a patent concerning electronic circuitry needed for use in conjunction with ballistic missile guidance control.
The patent discloses design details of a circuit including series and parallel inductive-capacitive tuned units which assure an extremely low phase-shift particularly suited to radar systems in which doppler frequency is to be multiplied.
The following is a Patent granted on a U.K. Patent Application filed on February 21, 1958 by The English Electric Company Limited, Harold Aspden being the sole inventor. It was published on March 28, 1962.
Commentary: This patent application was filed by the author’s employer THE ENGLISH ELECTRIC COMPANY LIMITED. That was in in 1958 in the early days of the research efforts directed at ‘hot fusion’ power generation.
The patent specification opens with the usual preamble introducing the Applicant:
We, THE ENGLISH ELECTRIC COMPANY LIMITED, of Queens House, 28 Kingsway, London, W.C.2., a British Company, do hereby declare this invention to be described in the following statement:-
This invention relates to thermo-nuclear process control apparatus. It is the object of the invention to provide a new and improved apparatus of the “ZETA” (Zero, Energy Thermal Apparatus) type, in which a very high temperature is produced by a pinched electrical discharge in a gaseous medium.
The invention provides a thermo-nuclear process control apparatus comprising a discharge chamber and transformer acting means for inducing an EMF to produce an electrical discharge along a closed path within said chamber, the discharge constituting in effect a secondary winding, and said transformer acting means including a primary winding which has a configuration rendering it electrically equivalent to a hollow
conducting tube housing said chamber and the discharge path.
A thermonuclear process control apparatus of the kind to which this invention relates has been described on pages 160-164 of the January 31st, 1958, issue of “The Engineer”.
In this apparatus an electrical discharge is induced in deuterium gas at low pressure by transformer action. The discharge constitutes, in effect, a secondary winding of a transformer and has a high self-inductance. By a pulsed energization of the primary winding a high current discharge having a large inherent inductive energy is set up and as electromagnetic effects promote a concentration of the discharge (by the so-called pinch effect} this inductive energy is concentrated into a progressively smaller region surrounding the discharge with the result that, although the current decays rapidly, the energy when dissipated as heat is dissipated over a very concentrated region. The effect of this is the production of very high local temperature in the deuterium gas. Such high temperatures are necessary to promote fusion reactions which liberate atomic energy.
A problem arises from the instability of the discharge and it is known that one way of reducing such instability consists in the provision of a magnetic field axially directed along the path of the discharge. A further problem arises from the natural expansion tendency of a current along a circular path, a feature which, in conjunction with the high energy demands of the discharge, renders it desirable to use a pulsed discharge which is regenerated intermittently.
An improved stability of the discharge is desirable (a) because higher temperature may thereby be induced at lower discharge currents and (b) because such stability is conducive to a more compact design for a given
power rating.
The invention provided for the winding enclosing the toroidal discharge chamber to be segmented in a series wound arrangement by which current supplied was forced to conform with a uniform distribution and thereby assist in keeping the discharge central within the fusion chamber.
Claim 5, which is an independent claim, reads:
Apparatus comprising a discharge chamber and transformer acting means for inducing an EMF to produce an electrical discharge along a closed path within said chamber, the discharge constituting in effect the secondary circuit of the transformer acting means, and the primary circuit of the transformer acting means comprising a two-terminal winding having a plurality of conductor turns each substantially coextensive with said discharge path and together distributed to have a configuration rendering the winding electrically equivalent to a hollow conducting tube housing said chamber and the discharge path and operative when current is passed between the two terminals of the winding to determine the current distribution in the winding independently of induced electromagnetic reaction effects of the discharge, said turns being wound around the discharge path to progress angularly about an axis defined by this path and establish, owing to this progression a magnetic field in the direction of the discharge when
the discharge is induced by the energization of the two terminal winding.
Figure 6 of the patent (presented below) shows a cross-sectional elevation view of an apparatus embodying the invention but suitable for operation at a lower voltage than a similar apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 of the Patent.
The following is a paper by H. Aspden published in Proceedings of I.E.E., C, p. 359 (1958).
Commentary: This was the author’s first published utterance on the subject of E = Mc2 and its derivation as a consequence of the non-radiation of energy by an accelerated electron.
It was many years later when the author eventually read a book by Cornelius Lanczos published in 1974. The title of this book is ‘The Einstein Decade (1905-1915)’ and on page 96 one reads, under the heading E = Mc2:
“In 1906 Einstein proved that radiating energy must have a mass value of the magnitude E/c2, otherwise the centre of mass of a body, on which no external forces are acting, could come into motion all by itself.”
This does, indeed, show the parlous state of physics, when we read that Einstein commands respect for saying that it needs a certain amount of energy radiation, the amount prescribed by his E = Mc2 formula to stop an electron from accelerating when no external forces are applied.
This author will no doubt be deemed to be somewhat naive for thinking in a Newtonian sense that an action must have a cause and that an electron will not accelerate unless a suitable field acting on the electron charge is present. All the author then asks the reader to accept is that one just cannot rely on the derivation of the Larmor radiation formula:
based only on the mathematical proposition: ‘Let there be acceleration!”
In the subject item of correspondence, the author pointed out that, if an electric field of intensity E is the cause of that acceleration f, the Larmor radiation formula requires modification to read:
where (dW/dt)x is the rate at which energy crosses a boundary at radius x from the electron charge e. It was then noted that if M is the mass of the electron effective at that radius x, the radiation expression becomes:
because Mf = eE.
The author then remarked that: “If the equation holds at a radius x equal to e2/2Mc2 there is no radiation of energy” and that, as we well know, the electric field energy of a charge outside a sphere of radius x is e2/2x. Accordingly, if M represents the component of electron field mass that is to be accelerated with the electron, that acceleration occurs only in accord with the normal inertial mass property if there is no radiation of energy by the accelerated electron.
Here, in 1958, the author was pointing to the very causal basis of the inertial property of matter. Matter comprises discrete particles of electric charge and every single one of those charges will only experience acceleration determined according to the accelerating field condition, but in every case the inertial mass will ensure that no energy is radiated by any discrete charge. If there is electromagnetic energy radiation when charges are oscillated that is solely attributable to the collective mutual actions and is not sourced in the individual response of any charge component.
It is a question of accepting that if n identical charges e share the same acceleration in the same electric field, the Larmor radiation formula will not involve a factor n2 but rather a factor n(n-l), because n electrons are not radiating on their own account.
How Einstein could develop a theory based on the contrary proposition is quite astounding, especially as one knew from the electron activity in atoms that electrons were subject to acceleration but had an energy conservative property which later was seen as its quantized state.
Over the years, every time the author pointed to this non-radiation property of the electron as being the basis for E = Mc2 he was told that he should not challenge Einstein’s theory and that the radiation formula stood proved and verified.
Accordingly, we still find that physics teachers continue to show how to derive the Larmor formula for the energy radiation of an accelerated electron, without describing what it is that is accelerated, where the accelerated mass of the electron is seated and how accelerating field does its work in the close proximity of the electron charge. Their teaching expands into the ‘wave zone’ where they are developing theory that approximates the physics of collective charge actions and no longer the physics of the individual electron.
If only they would pause to heed what this author said in 1958, they would understand the causal basis of inertia and of the formula E = Mc2 and see that they can do better by turning away from the Einstein doctrine.
Amongst the many items of published correspondence listed in this bibliographical collection of the author’s contributions there is one entitled “Signals from the Future” [1971a]. It refers to Paul Dirac’s difficulty with the electron energy radiation theme, and includes the following words: ‘the equations showed that electron acceleration was possible when there was no incident field, and, as Dirac put it, “the electron seems to know about the pulse before it arrives”.’
The following is a paper by H. Aspden published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers as Monograph No. 187M (July 1956) and later in Proc. I.E.E. vol. 104C at pp. 2-7 (1957).
Abstract: The eddy-current anomaly effects in a 0.019 in thick low-silicon sheet steel are investigated and analysed on the basis of magnetic inhomogeneity arising from ferromagnetic domain structure. This particular steel was chosen because previous experimental work had shown that inherent time-lag effects in the magnetization process were small. However, in such steel, flux waveform distortion arising from hysteresis phenomena adds to the anomaly effect, and a special experimental technique by which such distortion effects could be eliminated from the analysis was developed. This made it possible to test the magnetic inhomogeneity. The results obtained were interpreted in terms of a hypothetical domain configuration, and it is concluded that the magnetic inhomogeneity arising from ferromagnetic domain structure does account for the eddy-current anomaly, distortion and time-lag effects being of minor importance.
Commentary: The advance reported in this paper was the step of measuring the eddy-current loss anomaly factor, not as an averaged effect taken over a full cycle of magnetization, but rather as an incremental effect confined to the rising portion of the flux density range. The effective permeability over the relevant range of magnetization is linear and it was found that the anomaly effect was concentrated over this range of magnetization, rather than the region at the top and falling portion of the B-H loop. What this meant was that one could see how quite large anomaly factors at levels hardly justified by magnetic domain inhomogeneities were in evidence.
See the related papers: [1956a] and [1956b].
The following is a paper by H. Aspden published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers as Monograph No. 164M (January 1956) and later in Proc. I.E.E. vol. 103C at pp. 279-285 (1956).
Abstract: A theory which accounts for the well-known discrepancy between eddy-current losses in electrical sheet steels and the experimentally observed values is presented. The anomaly is shown to be due partly to the magnetic inhomogeneity arising from ferromagnetic domain structure and partly to a time-lag effect caused by the finite speed of domain boundary movements. A new experimental approach to the study of the eddy-current anomaly is described. This involves the use of a method of measuring the anomaly factor as it applies instantaneously at a point in the magnetization cycle.
Commentary: The advance reported in this paper was the step of measuring the eddy-current loss anomaly factor, not as an averaged effect taken over a full cycle of magnetization, but rather as an incremental effect over selected portions of the B-H loop. It was found that the main anomaly effect was occurring over the low flux density range. Indeed, over such a range it could be far in excess of the mean value normally attributed to the phenomenon.
In an extreme case one can show that magnetic domain inhomogeneities could account for a loss anomaly factor as high as 3 in thin sheet steel, but the research reported here revealed loss factors appreciably higher than 3. It followed that a time-lag effect enhancing the hysteresis loss could not be ruled out.
In retrospect, these notes being written some 43 years on from the date of the subject paper, the author now admits that the research suffered from a rather grave omission in that no account had been taken of the effect of the heat generated by eddy-current and hysteresis loss. This heat would flow from the magnetized core in the plane of the laminations and so in a direction at right angles to the magnetic polarization within the magnetic domains.
By the Nernst Effect this is a recipe for the induction of mutually orthogonal electric fields powered by tapping that heat and it is now realized that this would, in fact, add to the induced EMF driving currents around the eddy-current loop, enhancing eddy-current flow and so escalating into an anomalous loss effect.
The only excuse which the author can offer for this oversight is that there seemed at the time no reason to even think about thermoelectric effects affecting electric current flow in a single metal, steel, and even had that been contemplated the limited temperature range involved would hardly have suggested scope for efficient conversion of heat into electricity on the scale needed to explain the anomaly. Now, also seeing all this in retrospect, there is good reason for questioning the validity of what one had been taught concerning the second law of thermodynamics, or at least the applicability of this law to specific conditions prevalent inside a metal conductor where absolute temperature has no significance and only the temperature differential contributes to the effect considered.
This aspect of the eddy-current anomaly can be far more important than the direct implications of the actual power loss. Indeed, one can begin to see scope for a new method of electrical power generation drawing on the ambient heat of our environment. This prospect gains strength from the discovery that eddy-current anomaly factors much higher than 3 were observed, particularly over the low flux density range where the maximum action attributable to the Nernst Effect will occur. The reason for this is that the domain magnetization is then equally shared by the two polarization directions, so that the augmenting EMFs induced will see flow paths of least resistance.
See also the related papers: [1956a] and [1957a].
The following is a paper by H. Aspden published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers as Monograph No. 165M (January 1956) and later in Proc. I.E.E. vol. 103C at pp. 272-278 (1956).
Abstract: The discrepancy between the theoretical eddy-current effects and the actual eddy-current effects in thick steel cores is investigated. By using thick cores the magnetic inhomogeneity arising from ferromagnetic domain configuration is of little consequence and the discrepancy may be attributed to an intrinsic time-lag effect in the magnetization process. The time-lag is measured and explained in terms of a localized eddy-current action associated with the dissipation of hysteresis loss. It was found that the time-lag depended upon frequency and was less important at high frequencies.
Commentary: The experimental research reported in this paper aimed at explaining the mysterious extra loss that occurs in steel when subjected to alternating magnetization. This particular paper concerned the problem in solid steel rods magnetized at kilocycle frequencies as distinct from that in laminated steels at power frequencies. One important distinction between these two cases is that the physical size of magnetic domains and consequent magnetic inhomoheneity should be of lesser relevance in the magnetization of solid cores, thereby allowing one to see if the eddy-current loss anomaly could be eliminated in the latter situation and confined to the sheet steel laminations where magnetic domain inhomogeneity is prevalent.
In the event it was found that in the solid steel cores there is indeed an anomalous loss resembling an eddy-current effect, but it is attributable to what one might term the dynamic component of the hysteresis loss. It corresponds to a time-lag effect of the order of 10 microseconds and arises from the increase in magnetizing field during the period taken by the jumps in the movement of the magnetic domain walls. However, this degree of time-lag cannot explain the eddy-current loss anomaly that occurs at the lower power frequency of 50 Hz, where time-lags of the order of 100 microseconds and more are needed to match the eddy-current loss observed.
Accordingly, this paper, though establishing a case for added loss attributable to magnetic time-lag effects has to be considered in the context of the separate reports which were based on the same Ph.D. research programme.
Press [1956b] and [1957a] for further information.
The following is a U.K. Patent Application filed by Harold Aspden on February 15, 1951 with a first publication date of July 23, 1952.
Commentary: This is a patent describing and claiming the same device that is the subject of the published paper in The Review of Scientific Instruments. See [1951a]
The following is a paper by H. Aspden published in The Journal of Scientific Instruments, vol. 29, pp. 371-374, (1952).
Abstract: A method is described by which the permeability of open-ended rod specimens is measured by detecting changes in flux density and field strength by search coil and fluxmeter means. A feature is introduced whereby a repeated reversal of magnetizing field results in the field-indicating fluxmeter adding all the field changes in the same sense so that the customary compromise between accuracy and sensitivity involved in direct measurements of field strength is avoided. The method is extended by connecting in opposition the field search coil and the flux search coil so that the above arrangement can be used as a sensitive flux-balance indicator and the accuracy of a permeability measurement rendered substantially independent of fluxmeter errors.
Commentary: This paper was written during a period when the author was working for a Ph.D. degree which involved experimental research on the eddy-current anomaly. See the related paper: [1956a]. However, this method was not used in the eventual experiments which were the basis of that Ph.D. This paper was awarded a prize by the U.K. Institute of Physics.