On Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 8:55 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: Yes. Once established the large current densities generate huge magnetic > fields circulating the current flow, or equivalently a magnetic vector > potential field pointing in current flow direction. If the current > suddenly stops, oppositely charged particles oppositely moving in the > plasma flow collide in energetic "compressions." ...
Something along these lines is the horse I'm currently betting on. I would not be surprised if at the nano level you could get electric and magnetic fields that far surpass what we currently produce in the strongest accelerators, electromagnets and magnetic confinement fusion reactors. The absolute magnitudes may be minuscule, but the electric and magnetic fluxes could be off charts. For a little wisp of a thing like a proton, the forces could be sufficient to do whatever you want them to do. My graphic is alluding to what you're getting at: http://i.imgur.com/PoRGR7G.png In this case, there's a momentary compression of protons within a lattice defect as a spark crosses a gap between two electrically insulated grains in the metal. The magnetic field confines them to the axis of travel of the spark, and they migrate under the influence of a very strong potential towards the far end of the lattice defect, where they clump up. If there are deuterons in there, you could get 3He. But even if there are none, the protons could be compressed into the lattice sites themselves, provided the whole thing happens faster than a dislocation. It would be interesting to quantify the momentum/energy impulses charged particles around the currents receive. > I would love to see some back-of-the-envelope calculations for the forces that could be generated. Eric
