Research and Prelim. Engineering
Space Vehicle Program
(Return to Index Page)
Main Proposal |
Appendix |
Addenda A-D
Copyrighted © by The Townsend Brown family. All rights reserved.
General Objectives:
In the following outlines of fundamental research, specific details have
been referred to for the purpose of imparting a clear understanding of the nature of the proposed
investigations. These preliminary outlines should not be construed as limiting the scope or
delineating special interest.
The goal of the project is a carefully integrated and adequately financed study of gravitation,
embracing every relationship between gravitation and electrodynamics.
It is to be remarked that the problem of relating gravitation to
electrodynamics and the quantum theory is one which has taxed the ingenuity of some of the best
mathematical brains for the last 30 years. So for, no very complete or satisfactory resolution of
the matter has been found. Yet we are not completely in the dark with regard to it and the
situation today is far from discouraging.
The so-called "red-shift" produced by gravitation, and even the deviation
of light by stars, are phenomena which are concerned with a relationship between gravitation and
electrodynamics. Even though they are cosmological in extent, the magnitudes of these
phenomena are small.
Effects recently discovered in massive dielectrics point to the existence of
hitherto unsuspected gravitational relationships and appear to have brought the matter for the first
time into the realm of terrestrial experimentation.
No one can deny the possibility that, as a result of this and other
discoveries, a concept may result which so revolutionizes all our previous thoughts on gravity,
electrodynamics and quantum theory as to render the story of the inter-relations of these fields
one of consistency
and satisfaction. No one can deny that such inter-relationships would have
very profound significance.
Such a program as herein outlined is necessarily of long-range.
Unquestionably, there will be found many productive avenues of exploration which cannot be
described in detail or even foreseen at the present time.
Policy:
The project must adopt a policy of inviting assistance from able physicists
interested in the special problems involved. It must not fail to take into account and investigate
any phenomena which bears even remotely upon the subject.
For example, in the study of physical properties of dielectrics,
low-temperature research may be highly fruitful. Electrodynamic phenomena occur at
low-temperatures which are completely unknown at room temperature. The possibilities of
discovering wholly unsuspected gravitational effects below the superconductivity threshold, at
temperatures approaching absolute zero, appear to be worth the costs involved.
Library:
The establishment of an adequate reference library on gravitation and
related subjects, for the accumulation of technical information and to serve as liaison with
academic institutions throughout the world, is a requirement of utmost importance particularly at
the beginning of the program.
Highest Priority:
No one can guarantee results in research. No one can predict the direction
the research will take. It is the express purpose of this project to obtain the technical answers as
rapidly as possible by forming a coordinated program in which the best minds and all necessary
laboratory
facilities are brought together. It is the sincere hope that, in this way, a century of normal
evolution in science, especially toward a better understanding of the nature of gravitation, may
be compressed into from 5 to 10 years.
Such a program is expensive but, as it was with the atomic bomb project in
America, money was traded to gain a far more valuable commodity - time. So it may also be with
man's ultimate conquest of space. As a necessary and inevitable prerequisite, a concerted study of
gravitation is clearly indicated. We are forced to the conclusion that a research program organized
specifically for this purpose can no longer be neglected.
The Trouton-Noble Experiment (with massive dielectrics):
The experiment concerns itself with an electromagnetic torque operating
on a charged condenser which moves with uniform velocity in a direction inclined to the normal of
its surface. According to the theory of relativity, compensating effects, in this case having to do
with the effect
of the dielectric materials in the condenser on the torque aforesaid.
In the days before universal acceptance of the theory of relativity, there
was a reason to believe that measurements of the rotation of such a condenser as the above, when
supported by some suspension, would serve to determine the velocity of the earth's motion
through space.
If, for a moment, we put ourselves in the mind of one who does not accept
the theory of relativity in its entirety or wishes to test its validity further, the torque described
above and possible rotation resulting from it becomes matters of experimental interest. A situation
of great interest centers around the effect of the dielectric materials in the condenser on the
torque.
Now it appears that the original calculation of the torque is completely
erroneous; and it appears that if the torque had been calculated correctly,
invoking the same fundamental principles as were invoked in
the earlier calculations, it would have been found to depend only upon the potential difference
between the plates of the condenser and to be independent of the dielectric constant. However, a
more refined analysis of the situation, which does not simply average the
properties of the polarized molecules
into a representation in terms of a dielectric constant, reveals that there may be a contribution to
the torque which depends on the nature of the molecular dipoles, and in a manner which is not
expressible in terms of the dielectric constant.
The above conclusions were reached by Kennard and Swann independently
by different processes of mathematical analysis. They have rendered the Trouton-Noble
experiment one of considerable interest to a person who had any doubts about the theory of
relativity, and the interest would
be enhanced by the bearing of the nature of the dielectric material upon the outcome of the
experiment.
Mass of the Electrons in Metals:
This experiment has to do with the observations of momentum in a ring of
conducting material carrying a current at the instant when the material is carried from the
super-conducting to the non-superconducting state.
Briefly, the above experiment envisages a metal ring in which a current of
electricity has been produced by the creation of a magnetic field passing through the ring when all
is at a temperature such that the super-conducting state prevails. Under such conditions, the
current will continue practically indefinitely.
If we now raise the temperature, the super-conductivity will disappear at a
certain critical temperature, and the annular momentum of the electric current will be shared with
the ordinary material of the ring in such a way as to give an angular rotation to the latter. The ring
is, of course, to be envisaged as supported by a suspension and the angular rotation observed will
depend upon the stiffness of this suspension. An interesting feature of the experiment lies in the
fact that the sensitivity is greatest when the cross-section of the wire of the ring is smallest. The
limiting conditions which determine the ultimate sensitivity are based upon the requirement that
when the energy of the current is dissipated and the metal of the ring passes through the
super-conducting state, the heat evolved shall not be sufficient to burn up the apparatus.
The fundamental theoretical interest of the experiment lies in the fact that
the angular rotation obtained depends upon the electronic mass, and theoretical considerations
have been presented to support the belief that this electronic mass may be different for the
electrons in a metal than
for the electrons in a free state.
Most authorities on quantum theory are of the opinion that the effective
mass of the electron in a metal is the same as that for an electron in a free state. However, even
those who support this view are in favor of performing the experiment because of the complexity
of the theoretical considerations involved.
The most fundamental requirement is, of course, a means of producing
liquid helium, and this implies a cryostat. If a cryostat were obtained, the potentialities of an
enormous amount of other work in solid state physics would be provided for.
Investigation of High-K Dielectrics at Low Temperatures:
Research in solid state phenomena with special relation to dielectrics of
high-K is of great current interest. Investigation of the properties of substances of high-K should
be made in the realms of breakdown resistance, ferro-electrets, hysteresis, and allied phenomena.
Special interest
attaches also to the characteristics of electrets as such and to the conditions necessary to secure
high activity of such electrets over long periods of time.
In all the foregoing work, low temperature researches involving the
cryostat would be of fundamental importance; for although the dielectrics are not usually used at
low temperatures, many of the characteristics which determine their behavior at ordinary
temperatures can be examined more
readily by experiments performed at low temperatures.
A survey of the literature on low temperature phenomena shows a large
amount of work which has been carried out on the properties of paramagnetic salts, whereas the
properties of dielectric materials have hardly been investigated at all. The reasons for this
difference in emphasis
are essentially understood. At liquid helium temperatures, the system of magnetic moments in
most of the common paramagnetic salts is still in a thermally disordered state so that its magnetic
properties are still varying with temperature in an interesting fashion.
In addition, since the technique of adiabatic demagnetization of a
paramagnetic salt is the sole means, at the present time, of producing temperatures well below
1
oK, it is only natural that a great amount of effort has been spent in the
elucidation of the properties of these materials.
Most normal dielectric materials show a negligible variation of their
dielectric properties with temperature, especially in the liquid helium region. This may be seen by
looking at the main sources of polarization in a dielectric, namely:
In recent years, a number of ferroelectric compounds have been discovered
which are practically completely analogous in their dielectric behavior to ferromagnetic materials.
Thus they show a Curie temperature, above which the dielectric constant follows a Curie-Weiss
law and below which they exhibit spontaneous electrical polarization and hysteresis properties.
Barium titanate (BaTiO
3) is the best known of these compounds. Most of these
compounds have Curies temperatures which are fairly high. Two compounds are known which
have very low Curie temperatures. These are Potassium Tartrate (KTiO
3) and
Lithium Thallium Tartrate
(LiTiC
4H
4O
6.H
2O), with Curie
temperatures at 13.2
oK and 10
oK respectively. The existence of
these very low Curie temperatures has created an additional interest in the study of dielectrics at
the low temperatures obtainable with a Collins Helium cryostat.
In addition to the intrinsic value of a program on the properties of
dielectrics at low temperatures, it is conceivable that it might be possible to provide another
means of producing temperatures lower than 1
oK other than adiabatic
demagnetization. If one had a ferroelectricmaterial with a Curie temperature well below 1
oK, then by the adiabatic,
reversible depolarization of the material, it should be possible to produce a cooling effect
(electro-caloric effect). since the equipment involved in this process is somewhat simpler than in
the corresponding magnetic case, it would be of considerable interest to investigate its feasibility. This method is not
applicable below the Curie temperature since the presence of hysteresis and spontaneous
polarization introduces irreversible heating effects upon applying or removing an external electric
field.
The Curie temperature of BaTiO
3 can be decreased by reducing the lattice parameter either by the addition of strontium or by application of external
pressure. Presumably, this technique can be used to decrease the Curie temperature of
KTiO
3 or LiTiC
4H
4O
6.H
2O. An
understanding of the factors which influence the Curie temperature and of the range of Curie temperatures in
different crystals is important for the development of a basic theory of ferroelectricity.
In summary, it appears that a program on the properties of dielectrics at
low temperatures can contribute substantially to an understanding of solids. The starting point for
this program should logically be an investigation of KTiO
3 and
LiTiC
4H
4O
6.H
2O as well as
structurally similar crystals and their solid solutions with each other.
Electromagnetic Equations for the Super-Conductive State:
Among the many interesting phenomena which occur at low temperatures,
superconductivity has long held the attention of experimentalist and theoretician alike since its
discovery by H. Kammerlingh Onnes in 1911. With the discovery of the Meissner effect in 1933,
the basic experimental behavior necessary for the development of an electrodynamic theory of
super-conductivity has been established.
F. and H. London, in 1935, developed a set of equations which describe
the macroscopic electrodynamic behavior of super-conductors in a quantitative manner to the
present time. One experiment which would shed considerable light on the correctness of these
equations has been suggested by F. London. This experiment involves a study of the magnetic
properties of a rotating sphere. The theory of this experiment is worked out in complete detail by
F. London. The following is a physical description of the nature of this experiment.
Consider a sphere of radius R. If we start with the sphere at rest
below its super-conducting transition temperature and bring it into motion with uniform angular
velocity (w), then by considering the super-conducting electrons are perfectly free it can be
deduced that the sphere should become magnetized upon rotation. The reason for this is as
follows:
The London theory predicts the same result for the rotating sphere, except
that it makes and additional prediction. F. London states that the rotating sphere will have a
magnetic moment independent of the prehistory the sphere. In particular, if a rotating sphere is
cooled below its transition temperature
while rotating, the sphere will acquire
the same magnetic moment as it would upon starting from rest below its transition temperature
and being brought to the same angular velocity. On the basis of a free electron theory of
super-conductivity, it is difficult to understand how a sphere which is already rotating will
suddenly acquire a magnetic moment upon being cooled below its transition temperature. In this case, the electrons move with the sphere above the
transition temperature due to their finite interaction with the lattice (finite resistance). That they
should suddenly lag behind to produce a magnetic moment on cooing below the transition
temperature seems
surprising.
The magnetic moment predicted for the rotating sphere is small, but should
be measurable with sufficiently careful experimental technique. This experiment would constitute
a fundamental method of testing the basic assumptions of the London theory.
Please be advised that this document is copyrighted © by The Townsend Brown family. All rights reserved.
Please see Legal and Copyright Information for additional copyright information.
