Talk-Polywell.org

I've had my coffee now, let's give it a crack. In brief: As a simple consequence of Coulomb's Law, coupled with an upper limit for the potential and a lower limit for the density, non-neutral structures in a polywell reactor can never be bigger than a few microns. ... What you are saying is basicall...

@Indrek: I can read your equation now, but I still don't know how to do it myself. When I edit your post I only find "http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2749/52808308.gif", which leaves me as high and dry as ever.

There seems to be another misconception I should clear up. My statement was about non-neutral structures, not about potential structures. Coulomb's law and my manipulations of it in no way preclude the possibility of large, deep, high-density potential wells. On the contrary, the argument says poten...

In any case I recall skepticism calculating the Debye length that way is even valid in a Polywell where there are dynamic currents. This is beautiful. In response to an elementary physics argument, you don't present a counter argument, you don't even express your own well-founded skepticism, and yo...

It is really just as basic and nearly as simple as Coulomb's Law, which establishes a relationship between charge, potential, and geometry. If you choose any two of these, the third is automatically and unavoidably determined. It does not depend in any way on the velocity distribution of the partic...

@ MSimon (blowing my cover): Never use a supercomputer when the back of an envelope will do. Just because there are equations you can't solve with the best theories and faster computers (like Navier-Stokes = bumble bees), doesn't mean you should doubt solutions you can obtain on the back of an envel...

{1}: Would someone find me any statement by Dr. N. that say he wants to release the data that Art... wants him to release? He told me privately (I hope he doesn't consider this a breach of confidence) "We have been asked by our funding agency not to have any more discussions on our work. ... I hope...

To what degree would the positive HV electric field from the coils balance those electrons, rather than needing ions to do it? If you play through the geometry with some model calculations, you will see that will hardly make any difference at all. If I am able to get across one piece of plasma phys...

I have seen a number of simulations of gridded devices and they all show oscillation - bunched electrons leaving and entering the reaction area. Not only that - the electrons seem to self co-ordinate so that the bunches leave an enter the device in synchronization. It seems to be a self ordering pr...

Well, Rick saw something happen that he interpreted as formation of a WB. He has never told us exactly what his definition of WB physics is, nor the chain of logic he used to draw his conclusion. Thus there are considerable uncertainties involved in interpreting Rick's statement, even if we accept h...

Is radon from coal ash then also a significant problem? How would it compare to mine tailings for the same energy production? Not radon, uranium. My understanding is that trace amounts of uranium are distributed in coal deposits. The process of burning releases the uranium from the coal. The uraniu...

kraisee, since Rick always made the impression that he wanted to tell more but the Navy wouldn't let him, I sort of thought the FOIA might do him a favor by forcing the Navy to let him talk. I also figured the law wouldn't cover every scrap of paper in his lab with notes on it but only documents he ...

That's incredible. Do you have a reference for it? from google... Incredible but true. Thanks for the refs. I remember reading that, at least according to some calculations, the largest source of radiation to the public from nuclear power was radon leaking from uranium mine tailings. Is that still ...

Axil wrote:The Chinese are now mining coal ash piles for uranium. These piles assay out higher in uranium content than some uranium mines do.

That's incredible. Do you have a reference for it?

The fact the FOIA was rejected on certain grounds doesn't mean there aren't others-- in addition to competitive considerations, the sponsors may also want to keep a lid on things. "Harm the contractor's position" may just be the first box checked on the list (or the one that requires the least effo...