Copper as a dielectric.

The situation is much the same as before, except that the Zo = 10 mohm transmission lines have their dielectric constant  slowly increased to a higher and higher value. The effects are twofold; less of the incident 100v signal is left behind, to divert down the sideways transmission lines, and the velocity of propagation into these transmission lines decreases.

We finally reach the ultimate, copper, when

,

and propagation velocity  is zero.

Implications.

If a TEM step travels down in a dielectric between two conductors, no flow of electric current occurs in the conductors bounding the dielectric. To the extent that conductors are imperfect, part of the TEM step penetrates into them, but still no electric current is involved.

Electric current plays no part in the passage of a TEM step in the dielectric between two conductors. It is generally accepted that displacement current traverses the front face of the TEM wave (Fig.30). Now we see that it is displacement current only in the 'conductors' bordering the dielectric along which the TEM wave advances at high speed. These conductors are in fact dielectrics with very high . Ockham's Razor requires that we reduce the traditional dualistic system containing conductors as well as dielectrics to a unified system containing only dielectrics. We also have to exclude so-called 'electric current' from the process where energy travels from car battery to car headlight. Energy current travels along in the space guided by the two copper wires which have approaching infinite . To the extent that they are imperfect guides, a small portion of the energy penetrates with very low speed into the copper in a manner identical with the penetration into the high-ε space ahead. A corollary is that as with tubes of magnetic flux, tubes of electric flux do not terminate. They link back with themselves^[1].

Theory C.

Theory C asserts that if a battery is connected via two wires to a lamp, there is no electric current in the wires. However, energy current travels from battery to lamp in the dielectric between the wires.

The Battery.

Figure 32

In Fig.8 and Fig.31, the short western space between the battery and near switches 1,2 is in the same state as the eastern space beyond the further pair of switches 3,4, with the same field patterns etc. as drawn.

Necessarily, energy current is vacillating to the east and west in the space between the two conductors in both regions. It reflects westwards at the switches 1,2, and it also reflects eastwards at the western end of the battery plates. In the same way as the capacitors were wrongly drawn in Fig.26 and had to be redrawn correctly in Fig.27 in order to clarify theory, so the battery plates should be redrawn as in Figs. 33,34, to illustrate reality; that the wires are connected to the eastward end of the plates, not to their middle.

It is then obvious that the battery plates are a western extension of the transmission line comprising the two conductors linking battery to switches 1,2. On closure of switches 1,2, it is this eastwards travelling energy current which rushes forwards, retaining its velocity. There is no change in velocity when the switches are closed. Ions in the battery liquid are not involved, and in any case they travel in the wrong direction, towards the south and north. Chemical reaction in the battery electrolyte replenishes the reciprocating energy current. It is not known whether this energy current is concentrated in the thin interfaces between battery plate and electrolyte, or is broadly spread throughout the electrolyte, or some in each region^[2].

The Reed Relay Pulse Generator.

The reed relay pulse generator^[3] (Fig.35) was a means of generating a fast pulse using rather primitive methods. A one-metre section of 50 ohm coaxial cable AB was charged up to a steady 10 volts via a one Mohm resistor, then suddenly discharged into a long piece of coax BC by the closure of two switches.

A five-volt pulse two metres wide was found to travel off to the right at the speed of light for the dielectric on closure of the switches, leaving the section AB completely discharged. (The practical device lacked the second, lower switch at B, which is added in the diagram to simplify the argument.)

The curious point is that the width of the pulse travelling off down BC is twice as much as the time delay for the signal between A and B. Also, the voltage is half of what one would expect. It appears that after the switch was closed, some energy current must have started off to the left, away from the now closed switch; bounced off the open circuit at A, and then returned all the way back to the switch at B and beyond.

This paradox, that when the switches are closed, energy current promptly rushes away from the path made available, is understandable if one postulates that a steady charged capacitor is not steady at all; it contains energy current, half of it travelling to the right at the speed of light, and the other half travelling to the left at the speed of light.

Now it becomes obvious that when the switches are closed, the right-wards travelling energy current will exit down BC first, immediately followed by the leftwards travelling energy current after it has bounced off the open circuit at A.

We are driving towards the principle that

Energy (current) E x H cannot stand still; it can only travel at the speed of light.

Any apparently steady field is a combination of two energy currents travelling in opposite directions at the speed of light.

E and H always travel together in fixed proportion Zo.

Electric current does not exist according to Theory C. The so-called electric charge is merely the edge of two reciprocating energy currents.