Metamaterials And Transformation Optics

Since it is becoming obvious that metamaterials is going to be very important, for the physical realization ("hardware") of the technology of quantum engineering, it might be a good idea to put out some general information about that subject.

Also, some general information about the subject of transformation optics, which is the recently developed design technique for metamaterials.

So, the first recommendation is a paper:

Transformation Optics and the Geometry of Light
Ulf Leonhardt and Thomas G. Philbin
http://arxiv.org/pdf/0805.4778.pdf

 Very good intro, concise, and all that. 72 pages worth, give it a go.

The next recommendation is a book, curiously enough, by the same authors:

Geometry and Light: The Science of Invisibility [2010]

Ulf Leonhardt, Thomas Philbin

Dover Books on Physics

ISBN-13: 978-0486476933 

 

The book, of course, goes into much more detail than does the paper, as well as having more & better graphics. Go figure.

So, if you want to understand quantum engineering, this is a real god starting point.

"Genesis" of Energy Chips: the Family Tree of energy technology

“We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” -- Peter Thiel, PayPal Co-founder

To power the flying car, we will need an energy source, preferably one that is silent, clean, and uses no fuel.

Where to find such a device? As of now, this technology does not exist; so, we will have to invent it.

The starting point for this would be with the ideas of Nikola Tesla. In 1892, Tesla delivered a lecture before the IEE, in London.

    Nikola Tesla

In that remarkable lecture, Tesla said:

Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe. This idea is not novel. Men have been led to it long ago by instinct or reason. It has been expressed in many ways, and in many places, in the history of old and new. We find it in the delightful myth of Antheus, who derives power from the earth; we find it among the subtle speculations of one of your splendid mathematicians, and in many hints and statements of thinkers of the present time. Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic?

 

If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic—and this we know it is, for certain—then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature.

"...it is a mere question of time..."; it has been 122 years since then. Perhaps a bit longer than what Tesla had in mind?

But, the energy is there, and it always has been. We merely need to learn how to access it, as Tesla pointed out.

One who took up Tesla's challenge was Dr. T. Henry Moray, of Salt Lake City.

  T. Henry Moray

Starting in the early 1900's, and through the early 1940's, Moray built, and demonstrated, a series of what he called "radiant energy" devices. The last model he built was destroyed by a laboratory assistant, and was never rebuilt.

   Dr. Moray demonstrating his energy device

Dr. Moray's son, John Moray, published a book about the device, The Sea Of Energy.

  The Sea Of Energy, 1978 edition

For whatever reason, John Moray never attempted to rebuild any of his father's energy devices.

So, after more than 70 years, we are taking up the challenge laid down by Tesla, and pursued and then abandoned by Moray.

The question is: can we do it?

The answer is: of course we will do it! Why? Because we need it. We need it to power our flying car. Remember the old saying, that necessity is the mother of invention? (And I'm not talking about Frank Zappa's band, either!)

Where Moray used vacuum tube technology for his device, we can make use of the solid-state revolution, to create...



...the energy chip!

And that is what we shall do. 

[A Thomas Clarke endeavor]

QE 101: Pulling Energy From "Thin Air" (A Tutorial On The Science Behind The Flying Car)

"We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters." -- Peter Thiel, PayPal Co-founder 

QE 101

Pulling Energy From "Thin Air"

To power the flying car, we will need to develop a device we call the "energy chip", which 
could look something like this:

 

So, how would such an energ chip work, then? 

Energy fills the universe. All of it. There is no place you can go where you are beyond this
field of energy. It is called by many names: zero point energy, the quantum field, etc.

In 1892 Nikola Tesla delivered a lecture in London, before the Institute of
Electrical Engineers (IEE):

Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power
obtainable at any point of the universe. This idea is not novel, Men
have been led to it long ago by instinct or reason. It has been
expressed in many ways, and in many places, in the history of old
and new.

Throughout space, there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic? If
static, our hopes are in vain; if kinetic -- and this we know it is, for
certain -- then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in
attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature.

"Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and
High Frequency", in The Illustrated Tesla, by Nikola Tesla,
Thomas Commerford Martin (ed.), 2007

And this energy that fills the universe is enormous, almost beyond comprehension. John A.
Wheeler's 1962 book, Geometrodynamics, showed that the energy density was enormous:
10⁹³ grams/cm³ .

Just to put that number in perspective, there isn't 10⁹³  of ANYTHING in the totality if the
universe: stars, hydrogen atoms, galaxies, none of them add up to a number that large. And
remember, that energy is in every cubic centimeter, at every point in the universe.

So, why don't we have this energy technology available to us today? Mostly because it has
been overlooked. Since energy fills the universe, that means it  would be found in every
possible direction. In other words, it is "balanced", so there is no obvious sensing of this
tremendous energy flow. But, it isn't perfectly balanced. There is a very slight mismatch,
that betrays the presence of an energy field: Brownian motion, "noise" in electronic
circuits, even the enigma that is inertia.

Henry Moray, an early 20th Century researcher of this subject, had this to say about the
balance of the energy of the universe, and how disturbing that equilibrium might be useful
in making a device to extract electrical power from it:

TALK ON RADIANT ENERGY
Given by T. Henry Moray
In the Speech and Drama Building, Valley State College, Jan. 23, 1962 Northridge, California.
(N.B.: Valley State College is now Cal State Northridge)

Let me repeat, when an elastic substance is subjected to strain and then set free, one
of two things happen. The substance may slowly recover from the strain and gradually
attain its natural state or the elastic recoil may carry it past its position of equilibrium
and beyond, and cause it to execute a series of oscillations. In other words, there may
be a continuous flow of energy in one direction until the discharge is completed or an
oscillating discharge may occur. That is, the first flow may be succeeded by a backrush
and succeeding backrushes, the oscillations going on until the energy is either radiated
or used up in the energizing of the conductors. If your device will oscillate in harmony
with the oscillations of the Universe, or in other words, if the device is capable of
synchronization with the vibrations of that energy throughout space, then the oscillations
will go on forever. No one can call such an arrangement perpetual motion any more than
one can call the motion of the earth perpetual motion. The Radiant Energy device
oscillates because of the oscillations of the Universe.

THE SEA OF ENERGY
IN WHICH THE EARTH FLOATS

by T. Henry Moray
1978

CHAPTER 10
CAPTURE OF ENERGY BY RESONANCE
with the Radiations of the Universe

Oscillating Discharge — When any elastic substance is subjected to strain and then set
free, one of two things happens. The substance may slowly recover from the strain and
gradually attain its natural state, or the elastic recoil may carry it past its position of
equilibrium, and cause it to execute a series of oscillations. Something of the same sort
may also occur when an electrified condenser is discharged. In ordinary language there
may be a continuous flow of electricity in one direction until the discharge is completed,
or an oscillating discharge may occur; that is, the first flow may be succeeded by a
back-rush, as if the first discharge has overrun itself and something like recoil has set in.
The condenser thus becomes more or less charged again in the opposite sense, and a
second discharge occurs, accompanied by a second back-rush, the oscillation going on
until all the energy is either radiated or used up in heating the conductors. However, in
the case of Radiant Energy, the oscillations can continue forever because of the actions
of the universe. It is known that high frequency currents may be classified as to their
oscillating characteristics, i.e., damped or undamped. The energy from the universe being
of both types, depending on conditions beyond the scope of this writing, we have a
back-rush effect as explained before in the RE device.

This back-rush effect, in a capacitor, was first noted by Lord Kelvin (Sir William Thompson), in 1856.

So, how does this knowledge then inform Quantum Engineering?  The relevant steps of such a process
would like this:

1. the zero-point field is in (near-perfect) equilibrium
2. this balance of forces is disturbed, possibly by applying a voltage
3. the universe tries to re-establish this balance, leading to a "ringing" oscillation, or back-rush
4. an electrical circuit would be connected to the point of the disturbance in the equilibrium
5. The energy that is trying to re-establish the equilibrium will drive the electrical circuit
6. electrical power will thus be extracted by this means
7. a "keep-alive" circuit will keep the equilibrium off-balance, as long the device is turned on

After figuring all of this out, I then noticed that the logo for Tostitos nacho chip snack food had a
logo that captured this concept quite nicely:
 

From left to right, the logo goes from zero, to a high amplitude disturbed state, and then begins a
"ringing" oscillation, as it gradually moves back to zero. I am convinced that the advertising agency
for Frito-Lay did NOT have quantum engineering on their minds, when designing this logo for
Doritos. Just my opinion.

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman once remarked that, if you could take the zero point
energy contained in the volume within a coffee cup, and convert that energy into heat, it would be
enough to boil away all the oceans on Planet Earth.

Here is an article from 1922, touching on zero point energy, citing Sir Oliver Lodge, at least in the first
paragraph, then somehow switches to a discussion of atomic energy. Intriguing headline, though!




Science And Invention, March 1922

[A Thomas Clarke endeavor]