While there are no known analytic solutions for force-free magnetic fields in toroidal coordinates, with a reasonable boundary condition it is possible to find a solution for the surface field and, with a restriction on the form of the field, to the interior of the torus as well. Published in Physics of Plasmas (vol. 30, Issue 5); online 17 May 2023.
Here is the link to the paper:
http://www.gemarsh.com/wp-content/uploads/POP23-AR-00182.pdf
The US has a historic opportunity to enhance crisis stability by phasing out the aging land-based ICBMs. Published in The Defense Post. Here is a link to the article:
http://www.gemarsh.com/wp-content/uploads/How-to-Increase-Nuclear-Crisis-Stability.pdf
THIS ARTICLE EXPLAINS WHY U.S. LAND-BASED MINUTEMAN III INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILES CAN BE ELIMINATED SO AS TO ENHANCE NUCLEAR CRISIS STABILITY WITHOUT COMPROMISING DETERRENCE.
ARTICLE IN USA TODAY MAGAZINE:
It has been argued since 1948, when it was experimentally demonstrated, that the Casimir effect— where two non-charged conducting plates have a weak but measurable force on each other dependent on the inverse fourth power of the distance between them — shows the reality of vacuum zero-point fluctuations. This “proof” of the reality of vacuum fluctuations has been repeated in many quantum field theory books and papers subsequent to 1948. The attractive force is generally ascribed to the difference in zero-point energy of the electromagnetic field between the plates and the vacuum external to them. As is well known, zero-point vacuum fluctuations are incompatible with relativistic physics and are at the root of the “cosmological constant” problem. Most texts on quantum mechanics and quantum field theory eliminate the vacuum energy by normal ordering or some other mechanism. These issues are explored in this paper and it is pointed out that a means to resolve them already exists.
QUANTUM-FLUCTUATIONS-THE-CASIMIR-EFFECT-AND-THE-HISTORICAL-BURDEN.pdf
Modern developments in nonequilibrium thermodynamics have significant implications for the origins of life. The reasons for this are closely related to a generalized version of the second law of thermodynamics recently found for entropy production during irreversible evolution of a given system such as self-replicating RNA. This paper is intended to serve as an introduction to these developments.
To Appear in the Canadian Journal of Physics. DOI: 10.1139/cjp-2020-0013
http://www.gemarsh.com/wp-content/uploads/Thermodynamics-The-Origin-of-Life.pdf
Problems with the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics date back to attempts by Max Born, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, as well as many others in the 1920s to continue to employ the classical concept of a particle in the context of the quantum world. The experimental observations at the time and the assumption that the classical concept of a particle was to be preserved have led to an enormous literature on the foundations of quantum mechanics and a great deal of confusion then and now among non-physicists and students in any field that involves quantum theory. It is the historical approach to the teaching of quantum mechanics that is at the root of the problem.
Spacetime is the arena within which quantum mechanical phenomena take place. For this reason, several Appendices are devoted to the nature of spacetime as well as to topics that can help us understand it such as vacuum fluctuations, the Unruh effect and Hawking radiation.
Because of the success of quantum mechanical calculations, those who wish to understand the foundations of the theory are often given the apocryphal advice, “just ignore the issue and calculate”. It is hoped that this book will help dispel some of the dismay, frustration, and confusion among those who refuse to take to heart this admonition.
Is inequality the cause of social unrest and the growing divisions among our citizens? See my article in USA Today Magazine:
The equations describing the two-dimensional vortices first described by Chaplygin in 1899 and 1903 are shown to have solutions of higher order that differ from a simple dipole. It is also shown that for these higher-order vortices a very small asymmetry dramatically changes the topology of the stream function. These vortices could be important for understanding the phenomenon of atmospheric blocking.
HIGHER ORDER LAMB-CHAPLYGIN VORTICES AND ATMOSPHERIC BLOCKING
http://arxiv.org/abs/2005.08969
This explains how to introduce a PolarStreamPlot into Mathematica. It was used for the streamline plots in this paper.
Variation in total solar irradiance is thought to have little effect on the Earth’s surface temperature because of the thermal time constant—the characteristic response time of the Earth’s global surface temperature to changes in forcing. This time constant is large enough to smooth annual variations but not necessarily variations having a longer period such as those due to solar inertial motion; the magnitude of these surface temperature variations is estimated.
IRRADIANCE VARIATIONS DUE TO ORBITAL AND SOLAR INERTIAL MOTION
Modern developments in nonequilibrium thermodynamics have significant implications for the origins of life. The reasons for this are closely related to a generalized version of the second law of thermodynamics recently found for entropy production during irreversible evolution of a given system such as self-replicating RNA. This paper is intended to serve as an introduction to these developments.
NONEQUILIBRIUM THERMODYNAMICS AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE – Corrected and Updated
