Re: About wireless energy transfer

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Ed Phillips <evp@xxxxxxxxxxx>

"Soljacic has actually gotten a lot of publicity from this work ... 
he is Serbian, and in interviews has said that he was very interested 
in revisiting Nicola Tesla's work in wireless communication and 
energy transfer.  I had read somewhere that the modeling for the 
phenomenon that they are investigating is mathematically equivalent 
to quantum tunneling (a portion of the probability density for the 
wave equation that ends up on the other side of a barrier).   I think 
there is a wikipedia write up on this somewhere"

"I think the operant phrase in the article was, "The effect, which 
has not yet been demonstrated..." I found this revelation, which 
sounds a lot like the "wireless energy transfer" that takes place 
between the primary and secondary of any Tesla coil, to be completely 
"under-whelming"."

   I think the only reason that paper got the notoriety it did was 
because some "science writer" [read that person who really doesn't 
know much about science or engineering but writes for the "popular 
press" which knows even less] saw some "scientific-sounding" words in 
it, liked the pretty pictures, and wrote nonsense.  As Matt points 
out the resemblence to a Tesla coil is not coincidental at all except 
most Tesla coils (or radio transmitters or receivers or you name it) 
are better designed than his "rings with ears".  These guys just took 
a very devious path to rediscover stuff that's been common knowledge 
for well over 100 years and their expressions for transfer between 
their two really wierd tuned circuits can be found in more 
understandable terms in most any handbook or text on "radio".  Not 
being a physicist I can't comment on the "quantum tunneling" but 
think that was just literary license on the part of said science writer.

   If Soljacic is really interested in investigating Tesla's works 
and ideas he hasn't worked very hard!  The paper shows exactly zero 
understanding of what Tesla did and how his system was supposed to 
work and the only Tesla reference is to a patent which doesn't 
discuss the matter at all.

Ed