Originally posted by squiz
I wouldn't say no circuit just yet.
There isn't always an obvious or conventional "circuit" present anyway, especially in space and on such huge scales of electron movements. I have
a book Nikola Tesla authored, where he shows, among other amazing things, a single coil of wire with nothing hooked to either end, an incomplete
circuit in the obvious sense, through which he made a significant current flow and discharge into the air. Frequency throws another curve into the
equation.
Just for the record, magnetic fields cannot exist without electricity, whether in a current or at the atomic level as in the case of permanent
magnets.
Magnetic sources still aren't that well understood. We know they generate electrical currents and vice versa as per Maxwell's equations, but we
still don't really know what makes a rock give off constant magnetic radiation despite being an electrical insulator through which no electrical
current can flow, for example. There are theories, but there are also unanswered questions, and no real experimental data to prove anything.
A writer for Discover magazine found out the same thing, trying to figure out what the force of magnetism really consisted of:
When you get right down to it, the mystery of magnets interacting with each other at a distance has been explained in terms of virtual photons,
incredibly small and unapologetically imaginary particles interacting with each other at a distance. As far as I can tell, these virtual particles are
composed entirely of math and exist solely to fill otherwise embarrassing gaps in physics, such as the attraction and repulsion between magnets. And
as far as I can tell, because I’ve had it repeatedly and rather pityingly told to me, to want to pursue the matter any further is an impulse that
marks its sufferer out as a man who doesn’t know an awful lot about physics, or science, or the pursuit of truth in general.
Three Words That Could Overthrow Physics: “What Is
Magnetism?”
There was an interesting book I read not too long ago by a Dr. William Tiller, who suggested that there are particles that exist on the other side of
the speed of light, and outside of our conception of time, for which the speed of light is the boundary. According to Tiller, who had plenty of
symmetrical equations to go along with his theory, and other supporting evidence you'd have to read in his book, every electron particle has a very
real (not just mathematically imaginary) particle he terms the "magnon," which exists on the other side of the speed of light but interacts with
electrons on a quantum level through a 9th-dimensional particle he calls a "delta" that couples the electron and magnon to result in the behaviors
that are well-known as Maxwell's equations. Every time an electron moves, a magnon moves respectively with it as per Maxwell, through a
9th-dimensional interaction. We can't observe the magnon itself since the speed of light acts as a barrier, but we can observe its symmetrical
effects on the electron, argues Dr. Tiller. If you look deeply into what makes up magnetism, this new theoretical stuff is about as satisfactory of
an answer as you'll get. Probably not much relation to the OP, but for what it's worth, very interesting stuff anyway.
[edit on 21-11-2008 by bsbray11]
