Part 09 of 29 --
The Dialectica Manifesto
Dialectical Ideography
and the Mission of F.E.D.
The Nonlinearity Breakthrough
and
The Fusion Breakthrough
Dear Reader,
I am, together with F.E.D. Secretary-General Hermes de
Nemores, and F.E.D. Public Liaison Officer
Aoristos Dyosphainthos, organizing to develop a new, expanded edition of the F.E.D.
introductory documents, for publication in book form, under a new title --
The Dialectica Manifesto: Dialectical Ideography and the Mission
of Foundation Encyclopedia Dialectica [F.E.D.]
-- and under the authorship of the entire Foundation collective.
Below is the ninth installment of a 29-part
presentation of this introductory material, which the F.E.D.
General Council has authorized for serialization via this blog over the coming
months, as we develop the material.
I plan to inter-mix these installments with other
blog-entries, including the planned additional F.E.D.
Vignettes, other F.E.D. news, my own blog-essays, etc.
Links to the earlier versions of these introductory documents are given below.
Unlike the typical blog-entry, this series will attempt to deliver an introduction to [in this case, to the Foundation worldview as a totality], in a connected account, making explicit many of the interconnexions among the parts.
Enjoy!!!
Regards,
Miguel
The Nonlinearity Breakthrough
and the Fusion Breakthrough.
The prospect of fusion power epitomizes the vast scientific, industrial-technological, and social benefits — potentially human-social progress re-igniting, and human-species-continuation-enabling — of a Nonlinearity Breakthrough.
Hypothesis. A “closed-form”’, global solution of the “highly-nonlinear” Maxwell-Boltzmann-Vlasov plasma equation should enable direct computation of control-parameter-values corresponding to self-sustaining nuclear fusion reaction regimes, while also providing other physical / engineering insights, all leading rapidly to the design and construction of commercially super-competitive fusion power reactors, utilizing low-radioactivity or ‘no-radioactivity’, virtually pollution-less fuel cycles [e.g., the Hydrogen-1/Boron fuel-regime].
Consider the intensely ‘auto-kinesic’, nonlinear character of a “plasma” --
“A plasma
is a gas of charged particles, in which the potential energy of a typical particle due to its nearest
neighbor is much smaller than its kinetic energy.”
“The plasma
state [also termed plasma phase — F.E.D.] is the fourth state of matter: heating a solid makes a liquid, heating a
liquid makes a gas, heating a gas makes a plasma. (Compare the ancient Greeks’
earth, water, air, and fire).”
“The
word plasma comes from the Greek plásma, meaning “something formed or
molded.”
It was
introduced to describe ionized gases by Tonks and Langmuir [in a 1929 paper — F.E.D.].
More
than 99% of the known [M.D.: visible, e.g., excluding "Dark Matter", and "Dark Energy"] universe is in the plasma state.”
[Dwight R. Nicholson, Introduction
to Plasma Theory, Wiley (NY: 1983), p. 1].
The motion of the non-neutral, electrically-charged «plásma» “particles” just described continually, dynamically generates a changing magnetic field — a magneto-dynamical field of forces.
The locations and concentrations of the electric charges of these “particles”, changing moment by moment, due to that same motion, also continually change the «plásma»’s electric field of forces, sustaining an electro-dynamical field.
A «plásma» thus generates, by the continual motions of its electrically-charged constituents, an overall or collective electro-magneto-dynamic field of forces.
That field of forces, in addition to acting on anything external to the «plásma», to a degree dependent upon the physical-spatial proximity of such an “anything” to the «plásma», also acts — self-reflexively and self-refluxively — on the «plásma» itself, also because its constituent “particles” are electrically-charged, rather than being mostly electrically neutral[ized], as in typical gas-phase matter.
The «plásma»’s field continually changes the motions of its constituent “particles”, and thus changes the electric/magnetic fields that they are generating.
Those “particles” changing positions/motions thus change their collective field, which changes their collective motions, which again changes their field, which again changes their motion. ...
“Nonlinear self-consistent motions” are thereby possible, whereby the «plásma»-internal, self-generated field also guides the «plásma»’s “particles” to reproduce their very pattern of flow by which they generate that «plásma» field which, in turn, generates that «plásma» flow . . . viz. --
“The field. . .is termed as “self-consistent”.”
“It is determined by the distribution of particles and in
turn influences their motion . . ..”
[N. N. Kalitkin, D. P.
Kostomarov, Mathematical Model of Plasma Physics, http://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C02/E6-03A-03-03.pdf
].
-- and --
“This thesis investigates self-consistent electrostatic
structures in plasmas and related collective systems. “
“They are coherent structures in which particles become
trapped in the wave potential.”
“These phenomena require a kinetic description i.e. a description
in which the velocity distribution of the particles is taken into account.”
“Trapping structures extend the areas in configuration space
in which a plasma is unstable.”
“The main argument and result of this work is that there
exist certain kinds of perturbations of an equilibrium that can destabilize the
plasma, even if linear theory predicts stability.”
“The usual procedure in plasma theory of analyzing the
stability of a plasma by means of a linearization of the equations is therefore
questioned.”
[Alejandro Luque Estepa, Ph.D.
Thesis, Notes, “Electrostatic Trapping as a Self-Consistent Phenomenon in
Plasmas and other Collective Systems”, http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/5306782?q=subject%3A%22plasma+instability%22&c=book&versionId=6172546
].
This dialectical process thus foments a sustained self-re-iteration; a self-consistent “state” [or ‘dynate’] of motion; a ‘consistent-with-self’ [‘consistent-with-continuation-of-self’] /- ‘consisting-of-self’, ‘self-reproducing’ motion of the «plásma».
Indeed, the ‘“asymptotically stable”’ solutions of the «plásma» equations, corresponding to actual long-maintainable flows [to ‘spatio-temporal attractors’, as contrasted with fleeting, “measure zero”, virtually unobservable “transients”], must typically have this dynamically “self-consistent”, ‘self-reproducing’ character.
Along with any additional influences, acting upon it from its outside, from its ‘externity’, the «plásma»’s ‘internity’ thus interacts with itself, self-reflexively and self-refluxively driving its own internal motion, hence, its ‘auto-morpho-genesis’, and its ‘auto-meta-morphosis’, as a ‘subject-verb-object-identical eventity’.
The «plásma» phase of atomic / pre-atomic matter-energy, thus, at least in part, exemplifies a ‘self-forming content’ — a partially ‘self-shaping’, ‘self-molding’ phase of matter-energy, characterized by ‘self-[induced-]plasticity’ as well as by ‘other-[induced-]plasticity’.
The
text Dialectical Ideography,
in its Section 1. b., entitled Why Dialectical?,
glosses a hypothetical fusion reactor design, which F.E.D. has
dubbed the ‘Cyclonetron’ design
[link: http://www.dialectics.info/dialectics/Dialectic_Ideography_files/5_Dialectics-Part1b-WhyDI_OCR.pdf
].
This design hypothesis is based upon, not a "magnetic bottle" equilibrium, imposed upon the «plásma» by external magnetic fields, but a '«plásma» bottle', a bottle "made of «plásma»", such that the «plásma» is confined by its own, internal -- internally-generated -- fields, that is, the «plásma» is confined by means of a dynamical, non-equilibrium 'self-confinement'.
A «plásma» can potentially generate and contain and anchor fields which are far stronger -- and far more effective at confining that plasma -- than the fields that any external, solid-phase magnets and/or electrodes can sustain, and still remain in the solid phase.
This design hypothesis is based upon, not a "magnetic bottle" equilibrium, imposed upon the «plásma» by external magnetic fields, but a '«plásma» bottle', a bottle "made of «plásma»", such that the «plásma» is confined by its own, internal -- internally-generated -- fields, that is, the «plásma» is confined by means of a dynamical, non-equilibrium 'self-confinement'.
A «plásma» can potentially generate and contain and anchor fields which are far stronger -- and far more effective at confining that plasma -- than the fields that any external, solid-phase magnets and/or electrodes can sustain, and still remain in the solid phase.
This design hypothesis is based
upon the propensity or proneness of ‘‘‘flowing media’’’, or ‘‘‘rheids’’’ — whether they be the » electro-neutral liquid or gaseous ‘‘rheids’’’ described by the [nonlinear] Navier-Stokes system of equations, or the
electrically-charged, ‘electro-magneto-active’ and ‘electro-magneto-self-active’ «plásma» ‘‘rheids’’’ described by the [nonlinear] Maxwell-Boltzmann-Vlasov [vector-]equation(s), by the
Klimontovich equation, and by the Liouville equation — to “spontaneously”
generate, i.e., to ‘self-generate’, ‘‘‘cyclonic’’’ [and ‘‘‘anti-cyclonic’’’], or ‘‘‘self-re-entering’’’,
vortices: ‘‘‘toroidal vortices’’’.
This ‘‘‘genericity’’’, by ‘‘‘rheids’’’, with respect
to ‘‘‘toroidal-vortical flow-forms’’’, may be related to the
ubiquitous, ‘‘‘particle-like’’’, ‘‘‘solitary
wave’’’, or ‘‘‘soliton’’’, solutions that have been derived, in closed-form, for a very large and diverse variety of one-dimensional, nonlinear,
partial-differential wave-equations.
‘Neo-closed-form’ ‘‘‘toroidal vortex’’’ solutions, or ‘‘‘cyclonic vortex’’’ solutions, may be the true three-dimensional generalization of
those closed-form, one-dimensional, ‘‘‘solitonic’’’, “nonlinear wave”
solutions.
We conjecture that non-pulsed, continuously-“burning”
fusion reaction may be maintainable at the ‘‘‘heart’’’ of the ‘“eye”’ of a «plásma» toroidal vortex, or «plásma»
‘micro-hurricane’, induced into ‘‘‘self-precipitation’’’
in a «plásma»
control-chamber whose parameter-vector of control-parameter-value
set-points is appropriately tuned, e.g., via engineering guidance received
from the ‘neo-closed-form’ solution of the «plásma» equations.
This conjecture is depicted below.
In the above-depicted hypothesized nonlinear self-consistent motion
of the «plásma»,
fresh fusion fuel is injected at the base of the ‘«plásma» cyclone’, then ‘vortically’
conveyed up the ‘eye chimney’ of that ‘cyclonic «plásma» vortex’, and
concentrated maximally, umbilicoid-like, at the ‘‘‘heart’’’ of that ‘eye chimney’ --
approximately half-way up that ‘eye chimney’ -- by «plásma»-borne ‘electro-magneto-dynamic’
fields, stronger than any solid-state -- e.g., metal -- magnetic field coils
and/or electrodes, could source, without themselves being converted to a molten
liquid phase, to a vaporized gaseous phase, or even to an ionized «plásma»
phase, thus with sufficient field-strength to overcome the Coulomb mutual
repulsion of the fusion fuel nuclei, thereby bringing these nuclei into a
proximity sufficient to ignite, and to continuously sustain the ignition of,
the fusion reaction, thence continually, ‘vortically’ conveying the fusion
reaction products up and out of the top of the ‘eye chimney’ for removal, in a
continuous toroidal motion, the motion of a «plásma»-constituted torus
‘rolling upon itself’.
