Primer on Gas Discharges

(Plasmas)
Introduction
In the early and middle years of the twentieth century, electrical engineers were interested
in using the nonlinear properties of electric plasma in circuits containing gas tubes to
regulate currents and voltages in often quite clever ways
1
. After the advent of solid-state
devices, however, the importance of gas tube technology dropped to almost zero. There
are still Geiger counters and certain other specialized devices being produced and used,
but the overall properties of electric discharges in gases (plasmas) has almost become a
lost art of historical interest only except among those still seeking the elusive
continuous fusion reaction and the proponents of the Electric Universe.
So a main motivation for this article is that information on electrical discharges is not
easy to find in current literature (in spite of its growing potential importance in many
fields of physics, astrophysics, atmospheric electricity, and engineering). The McGraw-
Hill Encyclopedia of Physics has no entry for electrical discharge or electric arc, for
example. The closest one can come at present are articles and books on plasma physics,
which are almost exclusively mathematical and which contain little or no description of
laboratory procedures or observations
2
.
Searching the Internet for descriptions of what constitutes a glow-mode plasma discharge
yields very little information other than where to purchase certain devices that have
nonlinear volt-ampere characteristics of one sort or another. What follows is a brief
tutorial explanation of the inherent physical properties of a low-pressure gas when
excited by an electrical current.
We first will discuss what a plasma discharge looks like in the laboratory. What do we
see when we set up a typical experiment to observe a plasmas physical structure?
As the second part of this primer we discuss the discharges electrical properties and
attempt to show a relationship between these electrical measurements and what we have
observed earlier about the plasmas appearance.
The third and final part of this paper will attempt to relate our laboratory observations of
part one, the measured electrical properties of part two, and what at least this author
suspects is occurring on and around the Sun.
1. Visual Appearance of the Static Plasma Discharge
In the laboratory, applying a potential (voltage) difference between two electrodes placed
inside a low-pressure gas can produce the phenomenon known as a plasma discharge.
Electrons originating at the cathode and positive ions near the anode will be accelerated
in opposite directions, collide, and transfer energy. J.H.W. Geissler
3
performed the first
known experiment of this kind in the early 1850s. He was a glassblower by trade and
quickly made his Geissler tubes into sought after art objects. Later (1869-1875) Wm.
Crookes
4
developed his Crookes Tube which is sometimes erroneously credited as being
the first plasma containing device. Actually the Crookes tube requires a heated
(thermionic) cathode to produce electrons, which are its exclusive charge carriers
whereas in a Geissler tube both ions and electrons (a true plasma) are charge carriers.
Figure 1 shows the basic physical structure of a discharge. All of the component
structures shown there are not always found in any given discharge, but depending on
pressures, voltages, and dimensions, all have been observed in one discharge or another.
There is a well-known relationship, called Paschens Law, between the separation
distance between electrodes, the pressure, and the applied voltage that must be met in
order to initiate the discharge. Changes in any of those variables, or the type of gas used
in the tube, will alter the appearance of the discharge.
Once the requirements of initiating a discharge have been met, a pair of electrons will
enter into the discharge from the cathode. One is accelerated toward the anode and one
recombines with an approaching +ion. Near the anode the incoming electron will ionize
Aston
Dark
Space
Negative
Glow
Faraday
Dark
Space
Cathode
Glow
Cathode
Dark
Space
Positive
Column
Anode
Glow
Anode
Dark
Space
Anode + Cathode -
Either
+or -
+
-
C
h
a
r
g
e

D
e
n
s
i
t
y
(
C
o
u
l

/

m
3
)
If ADS is +
If ADS is -
E
-
F
i
e
l
d

(
V
/
m
)
V
Anode
voltage
or

Figure 1 (Top). The physical appearance of an archetypical gas discharge. (Below) Charge density,
E-field, and Voltage distributions within the tube. The bottom three plots will be discussed in parts
two and three of this paper.
2
a neutral atom by collision and both the original electron and the newly liberated electron
will leave the discharge together, entering the anode. At both the cathode and the anode,
then, it is electron pairs that enter and leave the discharge. In the central part of the
discharge +ions are moving toward the cathode and electrons are moving toward the
anode. Both these movements contribute to the total current in the discharge (which is
equal to the current in the external circuit). Only electrons are free to move in the external
circuit (wires). Positive ions are created at the anode and neutralized by recombination at
the cathode. They remain inside the discharge. If the electric current created by the ion
and electron flows is sufficiently high, the ionized gas (plasma) can emit visible light.
In laboratory experiments such as this, additional electrons are sometimes produced by
secondary emission from the cathode. The major, observed, physical properties of a
typical laboratory discharge are described below. These physical structures appear over a
wide range of operating conditions. A typical set of operating conditions for a laboratory
discharge might be a voltage of about 1 kV, a total current of about 0.1 A, through air or
Argon at a pressure of 0.01 psi
5
(~70 pascals). Our description of these structures starts at
the cathode and proceeds toward the anode.
Also note there is an extremely low (but not zero valued) electric field throughout the
positive column, Faraday dark space, and the negative glow region.
Cathode
In a laboratory discharge, the cathode is an electrical conductor, usually a metal, with a
secondary emission coefficient (it has the ability to emit electrons when bombarded by
incoming positive ions). Of course in cosmic plasmas, no metal electrodes are present.
Aston Dark Space
This is a thin region next to the cathode containing a layer of negative charge. It thus
contains a strong electric field. Electrons are accelerated through this space away from
the cathode. In this region stray initial electrons together with the secondary electrons
from the cathode outnumber the ions. These electrons are too low density and/or energy
to excite the plasma, so it appears dark.
Cathode Glow
This is the next structure out from the Aston dark space. Here the electrons are energetic
enough to excite the neutral atoms with which they collide. (In air, this region is usually
red due to the emissions by the excited atoms sputtered off the cathode surface, or
the positive ions moving toward the cathode.) The cathode glow has a relatively high ion
density. The axial length of the cathode glow depends on the type of gas and the pressure.
The cathode glow sometimes clings to the cathode and masks the Aston dark space.
Cathode (Crooks, Hittorf) Dark Space
This is a relatively dark region on the anode side of the cathode glow that has a
moderately strong electric field and a relatively high ion density. It thus is a positive
space charge layer. Thus, the cathode dark space, the cathode glow, and the Aston dark
space constitute an effective double layer (DL) such that most of the remainder of the
plasma experiences only low valued electric fields.
3
Negative Glow
This region is the site of the brightest intensity of the entire discharge. The negative glow
has a relatively low electric field, is long compared to the cathode glow, and is most
intense on the end near the cathode. Electrons that have been accelerated in the cathode
region to high speeds produce ionization, and slower electrons that have already had
inelastic collisions produce excitations. These slower electrons are responsible for the
negative glow. The electron number density in the negative glow discharge is typically
about 10
16
electrons/m
3
. As these electrons slow down, energy for excitation is no longer
available and the Faraday dark space begins.
Glow Region
Faraday dark space
The electron energy is low in this region. The electron number density decreases by
recombination and diffusion to the walls, the net space charge is very low, and the axial
electric field is small.
Positive Column
This is the physically largest component of a normal discharge. The plasma is quasi-
neutral. The electric field is weak, typically 1 V/cm (This is low considering that the
terminal to terminal applied voltage can be of the order of 1000 V.) The electric field is
just large enough to maintain a degree of ionization at its cathode end. The electron
number density is about 10
15
to 10
16
electrons/m
3
, and the electron temperature is
typically in the range of 1 to 2 eV. In air, the positive column plasma is pinkish blue. As
the length of the discharge tube is increased at constant pressure, the length of the
cathode structures remains constant, and the positive column lengthens. The positive
column is a long, uniform glow mode discharge, except when standing or moving
striations, or ionization (Alfvn) waves are triggered by a disturbance. All this, of course,
is observed in the laboratory.

In the case of the plasma surrounding the Sun, the solar corona is the positive column.
The Faraday dark space extends out from the end of the corona to the heliopause (virtual
cathode). A DL may exist between the positive column and the anode glow especially in
a cosmic plasma such as the solar wind. This DL would occur only if the applied voltage
were extremely high valued. A significant fraction of this high voltage would appear
across this DL.
Anode Region
Anode glow
This region is usually brighter than the positive column, and is not always present in
laboratory experiments. This is the boundary of the anode sheath. Anode tufting is said
to have been observed in this region, although no photographs of this phenomenon seem
to have survived.
4
Anode dark space
The space between the anode glow and the anode itself is the anode sheath. It is a single
layer of space charge. This layer can either be positive or negative depending on the size
of the anode relative to the current density level it is carrying. There is a stronger electric
field here than in the positive column.
Other Phenomena
Striations
Moving or standing striations are traveling waves or stationary perturbations in the
electron number density that occur in partially ionized plasmas. In their usual form,
moving striations are propagating luminous bands that appear in the positive column. In
reality many apparently homogeneous partially ionized plasmas have moving striations.
Standing striations can be easily photographed.
Abnormal Glow Discharges
In the normal glow mode, increasing current in a discharge tube leads to a very slow
decrease in voltage. As will be discussed below, the current density to the cathode
remains fairly constant. Beyond this normal glow range the current increases by covering
a greater cathode region. Once the whole surface of the cathode is covered by the
discharge, the only way the total current can increase further is to drive more current
through the cathode by applying more voltage. This is called an abnormal glow
discharge. The cathode voltage drop increases rapidly, and the dark space shrinks. Except
for being more intensely luminous, the abnormal glow discharge appears very similar to
the normal discharge. Sometimes the structures near the cathode blend into one another,
providing a more or less uniform glow. As the voltage increases, the cathode current
density also increases, ultimately heating the cathode and causing incandescence and
thermionic emission. If the cathode gets hot enough to emit electrons thermionically, the
discharge will transition into the arc mode.
2. How We Measure the Electrical Properties of a Gas Discharge
Suppose we put a gas (typically neon, argon or one of the noble gasses) into a closed
glass tube that has two electrodes inserted into it and apply a voltage across these two
terminals (exposed ends of the two electrodes). The terminal to which the higher voltage
is connected is the anode of the tube and the other terminal is the cathode. Positive
charges (as do all physical quantities) tend to move from regions of high potential energy
to regions of low potential energy. Water flows down hill is a well-known popular
statement of that fundamental idea. Voltage is a measure of the potential energy
possessed by a positive electrical charge. So positive charges will move along a path
away from a point of high voltage toward a point that is at a low voltage. Consider the
electrical circuit shown in figure 2 that contains a plasma tube.

In this circuit, there is a voltage source whose voltage value, V
S
, we can choose (and
vary). There is also a resistor, R, whose value we can choose (and vary). The purpose of
the resistor is to limit (control) the value of the current, I, that will go through the plasma
5
tube. If we travel from the lower left-hand corner of the circuit up to the upper left-hand
corner we will go through a voltage rise of V
s
volts. So if V
s
is a positive quantity (say
+10V) then the voltage at the upper left hand corner is ten volts greater than the voltage
at both lower corners.


Figure 2. Laboratory circuit used to measure the Volt-Ampere characteristic of a plasma. Terminals
X-X connect the external excitation circuit on the left to the plasma on the right.
The current, I, has the same value in Amperes at every point all the way around the
circuit (there are no exits from which charge can escape).

Ohms Law tells us that the voltage rise across a linear resistor (in this case moving from
the upper right-hand corner to the upper left-hand corner) is directly proportional to the
current through that resistor. So mathematically we have
R I V
R
(1)
Also we notice that if the voltage at the upper left corner is +10 volts, it has to be that
value whether we get there by going from the lower left to upper left corner or if we go in
the counterclockwise direction around the loop to the right. In other words it is obvious
that, summing voltage rises,

R P S
V V V (2)
or 0
P R S
V V V , (3)
Demonstrating the fact that the sum of the voltage rises around any closed path in a
circuit is zero. Equation 3 might also be written

R S P
V V V (4)
Or, using (1), R I V V
S P
(5)

S P
V I R V (6)
6
This last equation (6) has the form of a straight line (y = mx + b) which is evident when
we plot it on a V
P
vs I set of axes.

Figure 3 is a graphical description of the behavior of the part of the circuit in figure 2 that
lies to the left of the two terminals shown by the two small Xs in that figure. For
example, if we raise the ohmic value of the resistor
6
, R, in figure 2, then, in figure 3, the
intersection
7
of the line with the horizontal axis (at I = V
S
/ R) will move toward the left;
and the line
8
will become steeper.
V
O
L
T
A
G
E
,

V
P

,

(
V
)
CURRENT, I , (A)
V
S
Equation of a straight line is
y = mx+b
where m = the slope and b is the y-intercept
So V
p
= - R I +V
S
has a slope = -R and y-intercept at V
S
.
Also, when V
p
= 0, I = V
S
/R.
V
S
/R
Slope = -R

Figure 3. Plot of equation 6.

Varying the value of the voltage source will vary both intersections (end points of the
line). I is, of course, the value of the current leaving the top terminal, X toward the right
in figure 2. Every point on this so-called load-line represents a pair of values (V
P
, I )
that satisfy the requirements of the circuit to the left of terminals XX.
Plasma Voltage - Current Characteristic
The value of V
P
, the voltage across the plasma tube, is a highly nonlinear function of the
current, I (charge flow), down through the tube. This is shown in figure 4.

Every point on that plot represents a pair of values (V
P
, I) that satisfy the requirements of
the circuit to the right of terminals X X, the plasma contained within the tube. A
straight line drawn from the origin of figure 4 up to any particular point on the curve,
(V
P
, I), has a slope equal to V
P
/I which is the effective bulk resistance of the plasma
when it is operating at that point. This reminds us that the curve plotted in figure 4
represents an infinite set of single points, each of which represent a pair of numbers that
define the voltage across and the current through the plasma at any given instant. Such a
point (at which the circuit operates) is called an operating point.
7

Bear in mind that the current, I, that is plotted on the horizontal axis in figure 3 is
identically the current, I, that flows in the plasma and is plotted on the horizontal axis in
figure 4. So the voltage, V
P
, in figures 3 and 4 is the same voltage; it is the voltage
produced by the circuit to the left of terminals, XX, and is also the voltage across the
plasma tube. Therefore figures 3 and 4 have the same identical axes and thus both figures
can be superimposed on top of one another on this one set of axes. This is shown in
figure 5.

Current
Saturation
Townsend
Discharge
Glow-to-arc
transition
A
B
C
D
E
F
F
G
H
I
J
K
V
O
L
T
A
G
E

(
V
)

o
r

E
-
F
i
e
l
d

(
V
/
m
)
CURRENT (A) or CURRENT DENSITY (A/m
2
)
Dark Current Mode Glow Mode Arc Mode
Normal glow Abnormal
glow

Figure 4 A typical static, plasma discharge, volt-ampere plot. It is obviously highly nonlinear. A
similar plot for a linear resistor would be a straight line, starting at the origin (point A) and rising
upward toward the right. The angle of the line would be determined by the ohmic value of the
resistor. The slope of a line from the origin to any point on the curve =V
p
/I =R
p
of the plasma.
Any point(s) of intersection of the load-line plot and the nonlinear volt-ampere plot of the
plasma indicates possible pairs of (V
P
, I) values at which the circuit might operate. Only
at such intersection points are the requirements on the simultaneous values of V
P
and I by
both halves of the circuit satisfied. These are called operating points.

Figures 4 and 5 are plotted with current on the horizontal axis. This is the opposite of the
standard way VI plots are made in modern electronics. The original investigators of
electric discharges in gasses (plasmas) presented their results with current or current
density plotted on the horizontal axis because it is the value of applied current density
that uniquely determines the mode of operation of the plasma, rather than the applied
voltage
9
.

Clearly, in figure 5, the two points defined by letters D and G are each possible operating
points. Which one will actually be chosen by the circuit will depend on the past history of
how the circuit has been excited, but either one is theoretically possible. Sometimes an
8
unpleasant surprise happens when the investigator is hoping for one operating point and
the circuit jumps to the other.
Current
Saturation
Townsend
Discharge
Glow-to-arc
transition
A
B
C
D
E
F
F
G
H
I
J
K
V
O
L
T
A
G
E

(
V
)

o
r

E
-
F
i
e
l
d

(
V
/
m
)
CURRENT (A) or CURRENT DENSITY (A/m
2
)
Dark Current Mode Glow Mode Arc Mode
Normal glow Abnormal
glow
V
S
V
S
/ R

Figure 5. The plot of figure 3 superimposed onto figure 4. Obviously, the value of the current density
determines in which mode the plasma will operate. Voltage across the tube has little effect.
Consider what would happen if we now maintain the source voltage, V
S
, constant but
increase the value of the resistance, R. The intersection of the straight load-line with the
horizontal axis would move toward the left while the load-lines intersection with the
vertical axis remains fixed. In that way the operating point might be repositioned, for
example, to point C, and this would be the only possible location at which the circuit
could operate there being only one intersection between the load-line and the plasma VI
plot for those values of V
S
and R.

Conversely, lowering the ohmic value of R might result in point J becoming a possible
operating point. In fact, because plasmas will attempt to lower the force on each charged
particle, point J would be the probable result. If the electrodes were not designed to
withstand a current of this magnitude, a melt-down of the tube might well occur.

By judiciously varying the V
S
and R values, an investigator can trace out the entire non-
linear plasma characteristic plot. (Remembering always not to select values that might
unintentionally locate an operating point in the arc range.)

If conditions within the plasma are maintained such that only one plasma cell exists
within the tube then no double layers divide the plasma into different cells. Under these
conditions the general shape of this plot is the same for both external measurements
(voltage applied across the electrodes vs. terminal current) and internal measurements (E-
field strength at a point in the plasma vs. current density at that point). For this reason
both axes in figures 3 and 4 carry two labels. Of course numerical values would be
different depending on which quantities are being presented:
9
1. Overall quantities: V
P
, the terminal voltage across the tube, vs. I, the total current
(in Amperes) through the tube.
2. Point quantities: E, the electric field at a point in Volts per meter, vs. J , the current
density in Amps per square meter of cross-section of the discharge.

The electrical characteristics of the discharge such as the breakdown (sparking) voltage
at which the discharge becomes visible, the overall shape of the volt - ampere
characteristic, and the structure of the discharge (described in the previous section) all
depend on the geometry of the electrodes, the shape of the vessel, the particular gas used,
its pressure, temperature, and the electrode material. The shape and properties of the
discharge volt-ampere plot in its various ranges are discussed below. Usually three
general regions (modes) can be identified as shown in figures 4 and 5: the dark current
mode, the glow mode, and the arc mode.

Notice that no point(s) on the curves plotted in figures 4 and 5 touch the horizontal axis.
Every point in a plasma discharge requires a non-zero valued electric field strength to
maintain the discharge. A typical charge carrier will act as shown in figure 6. An average
velocity of that type of carrier will result that is proportional to the strength of the applied
E-field. Thus v
Av
= E where is the mobility of that type of charge carrier.

Figure 6. A constant strength electric field (force per unit charge) creates a constant acceleration.
The velocity of each carrier will increase linearly with time until it collides with another particle.
This produces an average velocity value, v
Av
that is proportional to the applied field.
Dark Current Mode
The region of the plot between A and E in figures 4 and 5 is termed the dark current
mode because, except for Townsend corona discharges and the breakdown itself, the
discharge remains invisible to the eye. The upper layers of Earths atmosphere are dark-
mode plasma. Radio frequency waves are refracted back down to the surface by this
plasma. But it normally emits no visible light.


10
A to B
In this low-current stage of the process, the electric field applied along the axis of the
discharge tube sweeps out the ions and electrons created by ionization from background
radiation. Background radiation from cosmic rays, naturally radioactive minerals, or
other sources, produces a constant and measurable degree of ionization but not enough to
make the plasma visible to the human eye. The ions and electrons drift to the electrodes
in the weak applied electric field producing a weak electric current. Increasing the
applied voltage sweeps out an increasing fraction of these ions and electrons.

B to C
If the voltage between the electrodes is increased enough, eventually, at point B, all the
available electrons and ions are being swept away, and the current saturates (does not
increase further even though an increasing voltage is applied). The value of the current,
when it saturates, depends linearly on the radiation source strength this is a property
used in some radiation counters. A charged particle that penetrates into the inter-electrode
space will cause an abrupt (transient) change in the current, I, that can be sensed by an
external ammeter.

C to D
If the voltage across the tube is increased beyond point C, the current will again rise. The
electric field is now strong enough so that the electrons initially present in the plasma can
acquire enough kinetic energy, before reaching the anode, to ionize neutral atoms. This
region of increasing current is called the Townsend discharge region.

D to E
Corona
10
discharges occur in this Townsend region due to high electric field strengths
near sharp points, edges, or wires just prior to electrical breakdown (transition from dark
to glow mode). If the current level is high enough, corona discharges are actually dim
glow discharges visible to the eye. For low current levels, the entire corona is dark, as
appropriate for the dark mode. Related phenomena include the silent electrical discharge,
an inaudible form of filamentary discharge, and the brush discharge, a luminous
discharge in a non-uniform electric field where many Townsend-type discharges are
active at the same time and form streamers through the plasma. When observed at the
mastheads of sailing vessels, such visible Townsend discharges are called St. Elmos
Fire.

E
As the electric field becomes ever stronger, a liberated electron may also ionize another
neutral atom leading to an avalanche of electron and ion production. Electrical
breakdown (transition from dark to glow mode of operation) can occur. At this
breakdown (sparking) voltage, V
B
, the current may increase by a factor of 10
4
to 10
8
,
and is usually limited only by the internal (ballast) resistance of the power supply
connected across the electrodes. If this resistance has a comparatively high ohmic
value
11
, the discharge tube cannot draw enough current to break down the gas, and the
tube will remain in the Townsend region with small corona points or brush discharge
being evident on the electrodes. If the internal resistance of the power supply is relat
lower, then the plasma will break down and move into the normal glow discharge mode.
The breakdown (or sparking) voltage for a particular gas and electrode material depends
s
ively
11
on the product of the pressure and the distance between the electrodes as expressed in
Paschens law (1889).
Paschens Law
As discussed above, in order to ionize the neutral atoms within the tube, an electron must
acquire a certain minimum energy (the ionization energy). It does this by falling through
a sufficiently large voltage drop and thus attaining a required velocity. If it collides with
anything before attaining this velocity, it will not have the required kinetic energy to
perform the ionization. So the discharge tube length (distance between electrodes) must
be larger than the mean free path (average distance between collisions) of the electrons
in the discharge. By lowering the pressure in the tube we can remove potential collision
candidates. Of course if the pressure is lowered too far, there will be nothing left to
collide with after the ionization energy has been attained. Paschens Law quantifies the
trade-off among the three determining quantities: distance between electrodes, applied
voltage, and pressure in the tube. For example, if the applied voltage is fixed, then there
is an optimum value of the product, pd, where p is the pressure and d is the distance
between electrodes.
Glow Mode
The glow discharge mode owes its name to the fact that the plasma becomes luminous.
The plasma glows because the electron energy and number density are high enough to
generate visible light by excitation collisions and recombinations. The applications of
glow discharge include TV displays, fluorescent lights, dc parallel-plate plasma reactors,
magnetron discharges used for depositing thin films, and electro-bombardment plasma
sources. The auroras observed in Earths (and other planets) polar regions are plasma in
the glow mode. So are neon advertising signs. The solar corona is a glow mode
discharge. It is essentially completely ionized.

F to G (Normal Glow Mode)
After a discontinuous transition from E to F, the plasma enters the normal glow region,
in which the voltage is a slightly decreasing function of the current. This is thus a region
of negative dynamic resistance. In this range, plasma can decrease the E-field strength at
any given point inside it by increasing the current density (using less than the full cross-
section of the tube). This moves the operating point toward the right, squeezing the
plasma discharge down into filaments, and it will do so. The filaments observed in the
outer, low current density region of the solar corona are examples of this effect. The
electrode current density is independent of the total current in this mode. This means that
the plasma is in contact with only a part of the electrode surfaces at low currents in this
range. As the current density is increased from F toward G, the fraction of the cathode
occupied by the plasma increases, until plasma covers the entire cathode surface at point
G.

G to H (Abnormal Glow Mode)
In the abnormal glow range (to the right of point G), the voltage increases with
increasing current in order to force the electrode current density above its natural value to
provide the required current.

12
Hysteresis at the Glow / Dark Mode Transition
Starting at point G and reducing the value of current or current density (moving to the left
on the plot), a form of hysteresis is observed in the volt-ampere characteristic. On the
way back down, the visible glow discharge maintains itself at considerably lower currents
and current densities than at the original point F and only then, at a new point F, makes a
transition back up to the Townsend region at point D.
Arc Mode
H to K
At point H, the electrodes become sufficiently hot that, in the lab, the cathode emits
electrons thermionically. If the DC power supply has a sufficiently low internal
resistance, the discharge will undergo an abrupt glow-to-arc transition. In cosmic plasma
there is no metal cathode and so arc mode is achieved via an avalanche increase in the
total number of current carriers. Arc mode emission is characterized by copious amounts
of intense ultra-violet light as well as brilliant broad-spectrum EM radiation including
visible light. Arc mode plasma is orders of magnitude more radiant than glow-mode.


I to J
The arc regime, from I through J is one where the discharge voltage decreases steeply as
the current increases (negative dynamic resistance). This causes filaments to form in the
lower current density region of the arc mode. Natural lightning is clearly one example of
such filamentation. Negative dynamic resistance occurs until a sufficiently large current
level is achieved (point J). Above that point, the voltage increases slowly as the current
increases. In this higher current density arc mode range, the discharge is not filamented.
3. Space Plasmas vs. Laboratory Experiments
Several of the component structures observed in laboratory plasmas are in one-to-one
correspondence with observed solar and cosmic phenomena. But there are at least two
significant differences that must be recognized.
1. The single most important difference between the laboratory plasma described
above and that which surrounds the Sun is that in the laboratory, the tube
containing the plasma usually has a cylindrical shape with the anode and
cathode being almost the same size. However, the solar plasma is spherical.
This has several effects:
The vector calculus mathematics used in Maxwells equations to describe
the electric field in such plasmas gives different results depending on the
morphology (cylindrical or spherical) of the discharge. See: On the Sun's
Electric Field .
Because of the spherical geometry of the heliosphere, the current density
is much higher in the neighborhood of the Suns anode than it is at the
(virtual) cathode (the heliopause). The ratio of cathode area to anode area
is proportional to the square of the ratio of the radius of the heliopause to
the radius of the Sun: (radius of the heliosphere/radius of the Sun)
2
=
(1.8x10
13
/4x10
8
)
2
~2x10
9
. So the heliospheres surface area is 2 billion
times the area of the Suns surface. Therefore, extremely relatively high
13
current density occurs at the anode. This puts the anode glow discharge
of the photosphere into the arc mode.
The Sun emits power at a rate of approximately 65-million watts/sq meter
from its photospheric surface. This is equivalent to a power output of 42
kW from each square inch of that surface. It is difficult to imagine that a
plasma discharge in anything other than arc mode could radiate 42 kW of
power from each square inch of its surface area. The light from over forty
1000-watt light bulbs radiating from a
one square inch area must come from
a continuous arc-mode plasma. Some
people may think the word arc is
synonymous with lightning bolt a
jagged, often branching, and
randomly shaped discharge. It is not.
The word arc refers only to the
mode in which a given plasma can be.
Often, continuous, steady-state plasma
is in arc mode.
Figure 7. A continuous high current density arc-mode plasma.
2. There are no metal electrodes anywhere in space and this includes the solar
plasma discharge. The cathode is a virtual one and is at a vast distance from the
anode (the body of the Sun). This is not unique. For example, the St. Elmos
Fire discharges sometimes visible at the mastheads of sailing vessels and along
power transmission cables have no real cathode. Their electric paths spread out
and end on negative charges located at remote distances at virtual cathodes. In
a thunderstorm, a cloud electrode may simply be a region of excess charge
distributed over a volume. In cosmic plasmas (including the solar wind)
because there are no material cathodes, some of the phenomena described above
such as thermionic or secondary emissions from a (metallic) cathode are
impossible and thus are not present.
Conclusion
The author hopes this relatively brief primer on the visual appearance, structure, and
electrical properties of plasma may answer some questions and/or eliminate some
confusion about this important and still emerging area of physical engineering-science.
Much of it has been gleaned from what are now historical scientific books and papers.

The empirical scientific method has three components: observation, hypothesis making,
and experimental testing. Mathematical derivations should not replace observations made
in the laboratory. But the observations discussed here seem to have faded into the
obscurity of time while mathematical derivations multiply unboundedly. There is
arguably a need to reproduce some or all of these observations in order to be able to
judge what are and what are not viable explanations for observed cosmic phenomena.

D. E. Scott
14
15

1
See: Mulder, J.G.W., Gas-Discharge Tubes, http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/ch1.pdf
2
A case in point: One of the most highly recommended modern texts on plasma physics is Paul M.
Bellans Fundamentals of Plasma Physics. Its index makes no mention of: glow or dark modes, Paschens
Law, Townsend discharge, anode glow, or the name Birkeland. It does contain: action integral in
Lagrangian formalism, dielectric tensor elements, Grad-Shafranov equation, Vlasov equation, Sweet-Parker
reconnection, and the Yukawa solution, (among many other similar entries). See:
http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Plasma-Physics-Paul-
Bellan/dp/0521528003/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347127180&sr=1-2-
fkmr0&keywords=Bellan%E2%80%99s+Fundamentals+of+Plasma+Physics.
3
See: Geissler tubes: http://www.crtsite.com/page6.html
4
See: Crookes tubes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crookes_tube
5
A bewildering variety of different units are used to describe the pressure of a contained gas. For example:
1Atm = 101,325 P = 29.92 inch/Hg = 1013 millibar = 760 torr; 1 millibar = 100 P; 1 P = 10 dyne/cm
2
;
1 inch/Hg = 3386 P; 1lb/in
2
= 6895 P = 51.7 torr etc. ad infinitum, ad nauseum. The SI unit is the pascal.
6
This resistor is often called the ballast resistor or just the ballast.
7
This value of current can be found by setting V = 0 in equation 6. This is equivalent to placing a short
circuit across terminals X-X in figure 2. The resulting value of current is therefore called the short-circuit
current.
8
Such a plot, which is due to all parts of the circuit except the plasma tube itself, is called a load-line.
This is because electrical engineers think of everything that is not the active device being studied as
constituting a load on that device. The nomenclature is counter-intuitive, but widely accepted.
9
See: http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Electric+Discharge+in+Gases especially figure 3.
10
This nomenclature was used historically to describe the unusual shape of this kind of discharge. It should
not be confused with the Suns corona, which is an altogether different plasma phenomenon.
11
Very high values of both V
S
and R result in a steeply inclined load-line approximating a current source
that enables the investigator to limit the operating point to a range that does not get outside the range D to E
in figure 4.

References:
Calvert, J.B., Electrical Discharges, Available: http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/dischg.htm#Intr
Emelus, K.G., The Conduction of Electricity Through Gases, Methuens Monographs On Physical
Subjects, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Third Ed. 1951
Scott, D.E., The Electric Sky, pp 102-103, Mikamar, Portland, OR. 2006
Scott, D.E., On the Suns Electric Field, Available: http://electric-cosmos.org/SunsEfield92210.pdf
Scott, D.E., The Sun, Available: http://electric-cosmos.org/sun.htm

822 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 35, NO. 4, AUGUST 2007
Real Properties of Electromagnetic Fields and
Plasma in the Cosmos
Donald E. Scott
AbstractAmajority of baryons in the cosmos are in the plasma
state. However, fundamental disagreements about the properties
and behavior of electromagnetic elds in these plasmas exist
between the science of modern astronomy/astrophysics and the
experimentally veried laws of electrical engineering and plasma
physics. Many helioastronomers claim that magnetic elds can
be open ended. Astrophysicists have claimed that galactic mag-
netic elds begin and end on molecular clouds. Most electrical
engineers, physicists, and pioneers in the electromagnetic eld
theory disagree, i.e., magnetic elds have no beginning or end.
Many astrophysicists still claim that magnetic elds are frozen
into electric plasma. The magnetic merging (reconnection)
mechanism is also falsied by both theoretical and experimental
investigations.
Index TermsMagnetic elds, Maxwell equations, merging,
plasmas.
I. INTRODUCTION
P
LASMA cosmology was formally introduced more than
25 years ago by Alfvn [1][3]. This paper was based on
his earlier experimental investigations and those of Birkeland
and Langmuir. They, in turn, had been motivated by the con-
cepts embodied in Maxwells equations. This compact set of
relations codies the results of a long series of experiments
that were performed by the founders of electrical science. Thus,
plasma cosmology is not based simply on deductive reasoning
and mathematical formalisms, but rather on veried laboratory
evidence.
For example, an indication of the dominance of the magnetic
force is demonstrated by a ball bearing on a table. All of Earths
baryonic mass exerts a gravitational pull on the bearing, pre-
venting it from lifting off the table. Yet, the smallest horseshoe
magnet easily snatches it away. On a cosmic scale, magnetic
energy density can also exceed gravitational energy density. For
example, in the local supercluster, the magnetic eld energy
density exceeds the gravitational energy density by at least an
order of magnitude [4].
The local interstellar medium has an estimated ionelectron
pair concentration in the range of 0.011/cm
3
. Thus, the vol-
ume between the Sun and its nearest neighbor contains some
6 10
54
ionelectron pairs. However, quantitative calculations
based on simple electrostatic forces between such particles
lead to erroneous conclusions. This is because double layers
(DLs) separate cells of plasma in space (e.g., heliospheres)
Manuscript received September 8, 2006; revised October 11, 2006.
The author, retired, was with the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 USA (e-mail:
dascott3@cox.net).
Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPS.2007.895424
such that electrostatic forces between bodies that are each
surrounded by such DL-bounded plasma cells are negligibly
weak. Homogeneous models often are found to be misleading
and should be replaced by inhomogeneous models, with the
inhomogeneities being produced by lamentary currents and
DLs that divide space into cells [5]. Space in general has a
cellular structure.
Theoretical analyses based on the classical plasma theory
often fail to correspond to real results that are obtained via
direct observation. On the other hand, simulations on super-
computers and actual laboratory experiments provide accurate
descriptions of the behavior of such cosmic plasmas. Rotation
is an inherent result of interacting electric currents in plasma.
Computer models of two current laments interacting in a
plasma have accurately reproduced details of spiral galaxy
rotation proles [6]. Plasma cosmology also offers [1] a model
that predicted the existence of galactic jets and the behavior of
double-radio-source galaxies prior to their observation.
It is clear that a rigorous understanding of the real physical
properties of magnetic elds in plasmas is crucial for astro-
physicists and cosmologists. Incorrect pronouncements about
the properties of magnetic elds and currents in plasma will be
counterproductive if these conceptual errors are propagated into
publications and then used as the basis of new investigations.
There are some popular misconceptions.
1) Magnetic lines of force really exist as extant entities in
3-D space and are involved in cosmic mechanisms when
they move.
2) Magnetic elds can be open ended and can release energy
by merging or reconnecting.
3) Behavior of magnetic elds can be explained without any
reference to the currents that produce them.
4) Cosmic plasma is innitely conductive, so magnetic elds
are frozen into it.
II. MAGNETIC LINES OF FORCE
Since the 1950s, some solar astrophysicists have asserted that
the interplanetary magnetic eld (IMF) is really open ended [7],
with one end anchored to the Sun and the other waving in the
solar wind. Open eld lines supposedly connect to the polar
regions of the Sun and dene the polar coronal holes that are
prevalent at solar minima [8].
The IMF originates in regions on the Sun where the mag-
netic eld is openthat is, where eld lines emerging from
one region do not return to a conjugate region but extend
virtually indenitely into space [9].
0093-3813/$25.00 2007 IEEE
SCOTT: REAL PROPERTIES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND PLASMA IN THE COSMOS 823
Although it is well understood among the space physics
community that the divergence of magnetic elds in space is
zero valued (B is solenoidal), some recent statements are
equivocal on this point.
Magnetic eld lines can exist in two types: closed and open.
A closed magnetic eld line is anchored at two points in the
photosphere and extends into the corona as a loop or arch. This
explains the shape of solar prominences. Open eld lines are
only anchored at one point in the photosphere, and they extend
out into interplanetary space; it is in these open eld lines
that the corona can expand outward in the form of the solar
wind [10].
An open eld line is dened as being one upon which
the solar wind ows. As Parker predicted, the solar wind ows
faster than the critical speed, and hence the eld line does not
return to the Sun locally [11].
If it is well understood that the open eld lines are actually
closed loops and eventually return to the Sun, how and at
what location does the matter in the solar wind get off the
closed path?
Field lines intersecting the photospheric boundary are said
to be anchored and the point of intersection is termed a foot-
point. Field lines anchored at both ends to the photospheric
boundary are said to be closed. Closed eld lines appear to
account for the majority of an active regions corona. Open eld
lines, such as in coronal holes, are those with one footpoint
in the photosphere and the other end in the source surface or
extending to innity [12].
Regarding the end that is supposedly anchored in the Sun, to
what kind of entity does the magnetic eld line attach itself?
These questions are important in cosmology because the Sun
is a typical star, and all stars in the cosmos must have at least
somewhat analogous characteristics.
The notion that magnetic eld lines can be open ended is
impossible to reconcile with Maxwells simple and universal
equation, i.e.,
B = 0 (1)
or in integral form (Gauss law for magnetism) given by

B d

A = 0 (2)
and the vast body of experiments that led to it. At any instant of
time, the net sum of all magnetic ux entering any closed sur-
face A is zero. The closed surface can be of any size or shape.
Therefore, there can be no beginning or end to a magnetic eld
anywhere. Whatever magnetic ux enters the closed surface
also leaves it. There is no way to store magnetic ux inside the
volume that is dened by the closed surface. Every magnetic
eld is a continuum, i.e., a vector eld. Each of the innite
and uncountable points in this continuum has a magnitude and
a direction that is associated with it. This continuum is not
composed of (does not contain) a set of discrete lines. Lines
are sometimes drawn on paper to describe the magnetic eld
(its direction and magnitude). Where the eld is strong, such as
at the poles of an electromagnet, the lines come close together.
However, the lines themselves do not actually exist in reality.
They are simply a visualization device, i.e., a useful way to
understand the properties of a vector eld. The loci are always
endless (closed) loops. There is only one type of magnetic eld
line. They are useful abstractions and nothing more.
III. DOUBLE HELIX NEBULA
Another misleading statement surfaced regarding the prop-
erties of magnetic elds in the search for an explanation of a
double-helix-shaped plasma near the center of the Milky Way
galaxy [13]. Investigators have attempted to describe this object
in terms of twisted magnetic ux tubes and Alfvnic magnetic
waves. Yet, it is obviously a galactic Birkeland current. It can
clearly be seen as a pair of helical current laments in a plasma.
One attempt with which the author is familiar is being made to
model its twisted shape as being caused by the rigid connections
of a magnetic eld to a pair of counterrotating molecular
clouds, with one at each of its ends. A supercomputer study is
being conducted using a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model
to explain the kinks (plasma instabilities) in the object. This
MHD model is based on a nonresistive plasma, which is a
notion that Alfvn showed decades ago that is a purely mythical
concept.
The point is that nothing can be explained by assuming that
an open-ended magnetic eld has rigid connections either to the
Sun, which is a star, or a rotating molecular cloud at one or both
of its ends. Magnetic elds do not have ends.
The phrase magnetic lines of force, as coined by Faraday,
is misleading. The only force that is uniquely associated with a
magnetic eld is the one that is applied to a compass needle to
force it to align with the elds direction. If and when electrical
charges pass through a magnetic eld, other types of forces
result, but these are due to the interaction between these moving
charges and the eld, as described by the equation of motion of
Lorentz, i.e.,
d
dt
(mv) = q(E + v B). (3)
This relationship accurately describes the cause of synchrotron
radiation and the spiral paths that are taken by currents in
magnetized plasma.
Many astrophysicists, when presented with these ideas, will
acknowledge that magnetic lines of force are only abstrac-
tions and not real-world extant objects. However, there is no
justication for statements such as For many years [these
lines] were viewed as merely a way to visualize magnetic
elds, and electrical engineers usually preferred other ways,
mathematically more convenient. Not so in space, however,
where magnetic eld lines are fundamental to the way free
electrons and ions move. These electrically charged particles
tend to become attached to the eld lines on which they reside,
spiralling [sic] around them while sliding along them, like
beads on a wire [14]. This erroneous concept becomes doubly
dangerous when the magnetic eld lines themselves are also
thought to be able to move, as in magnetic reconnection.
824 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 35, NO. 4, AUGUST 2007
Fig. 1. Concept of magnetic reconnection: magnetic merging at an X-type
neutral line. The solid lines are the magnetic eld lines, whereas the dashed
lines are the plasma ow lines.
IV. MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
In 1961, Dungey proposed magnetic reconnection, an idea
that Giovanelli conceived in 1946 to explain solar aring. It has
become widely accepted among astronomers that when more
or less oppositely pointing eld lines approach each other, they
can abruptly short circuit, merge, or reconnect. In this
reconnected conguration, the eld lines are bent tightly like
the elastic strings of a catapult. When the eld lines suddenly
straighten, they supposedly ing out plasma in opposite direc-
tions. The reason that they suddenly straighten is assumed to be
the second term in the MHD pressure equation, i.e.,
(p + B
2
/2
o
) (B)B/
0
= 0. (4)
Alfvn addressed this point [5] by noting that the second term
in (4) is equivalent to the pinch effect that is caused by electric
currents.
The standard explanation of reconnection (Fig. 1) is that
magnetic eld lines 1 and 2 move in from the left and from the
right, and eventually come together (short circuit) at the central
point. There they change their structure: The two top halves
join (reconnect) and move up, ultimately reaching the position
of line 3, while the two bottom halves join and form the line
that later moves to position 4.
However, lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 are magnetic eld lines and,
as such, cannot move or reach the neutral line. In addition,
there must be currents or current sheets that are not shown in
Fig. 1 since curved magnetic elds cannot exist without them
(see Section V). An additional error is made in assuming that
plasma is attached to those lines and will be bulk transported,
as shown by the dashed paths in Fig. 1, by this movement of the
magnetic lines.
Although the proposed reconnection mechanism changes the
topology of the magnetic eld, it does not explicitly reduce
the strength of any part of the magnetic eld. Thus, it cannot
liberate magnetic energy that is stored in that eld.
One source explains reconnection as being caused by the
breaking of magnetic eld lines. Magnetic reconnection is
a fundamental physical process occurring in a magnetized
plasma, whereby magnetic eld lines are effectively broken
Fig. 2. Two parallel electric currents that are directed away from the viewer
showing the resulting magnetic eld. The central box in this gure is shown in
Fig. 1. The dashed lines are separatrix loci that come into contact along a line
central to and parallel with the currents.
and reconnected, resulting in a change of magnetic topology,
conversion of magnetic eld energy into bulk kinetic energy
and particle heating [15].
Proposing that magnetic eld lines move around, break,
merge, reconnect, or recombine is an error based on the false
assumption that the lines are real entities in the rst place.
This is an example of reifying an abstract theoretical concept.
Field lines are not real-world 3-D entities and thus cannot do
anything. Like mathematical singularities, eld lines are pure
abstractions and cannot be reied into being real 3-D material
objects.
The central point in Fig. 1 from which energy is supposedly
released by magnetic reconnection (merging) is a neutral point,
one at which the magnetic eld strength is zero valued.
Fig. 2 provides a simple example that demonstrates how such
a neutral point can be created. The eld structure that is shown
in Fig. 1 lies within the small rectangle at the center of Fig. 2.
The two dark circles with central Xs in Fig. 2 represent two
straight equal-amplitude electric currents I owing away from
the viewer (into the page). A clockwise-directed magnetic ux
will therefore encircle these currents. Each of the dashed lines
in this gure is a separatrix. Inside these dashed lines, the
magnetic eld links only one current. Outside the separatrix,
the magnetic eld links both currents. The two separatrix loci
intersect at the neutral point, which, in this 3-D case, is actually
a neutral line.
The magnetic eld strength vector at any point in the plane
of the gure is the vector sum of all component elds that are
produced by all differential current segments in the vicinity. At
the neutral point (or line), the current on the right produces a
magnetic eld strength vector that is vertically upward. Simi-
larly, the current on the left produces a magnetic eld vector
that is vertically downward at that point. Therefore, these two
eld strength vectors sum to zero at the center of the gure, and
the strength of the B eld at such a neutral point is identically
zero. Additional currents AND/OR current sheets can be added
to this diagram. Doing so will alter the topology of the magnetic
eld, possibly introducing additional neutral points or lines and
separatrices.
Note that no electric currents exist near or at the neutral point.
If they did, the point would no longer be magnetically neutral.
SCOTT: REAL PROPERTIES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND PLASMA IN THE COSMOS 825
The energy that is stored at any point in a magnetic eld is
proportional to the square of the magnitude of the magnetic ux
density at that point, i.e.,
W
B
=
1
2
o

B
2
I
dv (5)
where B
I
is the magnitude of the magnetic eld, and dv is a
small volume element. Thus, if B
I
= 0 at any given point, then
the stored energy there would be W
B
= 0. No energy is stored
at a neutral point; this is why it is called a neutral or null point.
No energy release can occur from any point at which no
energy is stored.
However, a large amount of energy can be stored in and
released from the surrounding eld structure but only if either
or both currents I take on lower values. This is easily demon-
strated in the example in Fig. 2, which is given in the following.
The total energy that has been delivered to an electrical
element (e.g., a unit length of the conductors that are shown
in Fig. 2) by time t
0
is given by [16]
W(t
0
) =
t
0

v(t)i(t)dt. (6)
For the case of the ux-linked conductors in the example,
i(t) = 2I, and v(t) is the voltage drop across a unit length
of the conductor in the direction of i(t). Faradays law indi-
cates that
v(t) =
d(t)
dt
(7)
where is the total magnetic ux that links the conductors.
Thus, the energy that is stored in the magnetic eld that
surrounds the conductors at time t
0
is given by
W(t
0
) =
t
0

d
dt
i(t)dt =
(t
0
)

()
id (8)
where the total magnetic ux depends on the currents ampli-
tude, i.e.,
(t) = Li(t). (9)
The constant of proportionality L is called the inductance,
which may be a constant or a function of . When a cur-
rent ows in large regions, this single inductance element L
should be replaced by a transmission line, and the situation is
then more accurately (but less intuitively) described by partial
differential equations [1]. Equations (6)(9) demonstrate the
basic principle that the total energy that is stored magnetically
in the innite volume surrounding the conductors completely
depends on the current. That is, using (9), (8) may be written
as an integral in terms of only the current. The total energy
that will be released from this volume over any time interval is
thus clearly a function of the change in current amplitude over
that interval.
The diagram in Fig. 2 approximates a cross section of a cos-
mic Birkeland current pair. If these twin currents are disrupted
(e.g., by an exploding DL in their path), the eld will quickly
collapse and liberate all of the stored magnetic energy that is
given by (8).
Investigators [15], [17][20] who prefer to avoid explicit
mention of electric current as a primary cause of cosmic energy
releases fall back on magnetic reconnection as an explanation.
In certain situations, magnetic reconnection supposedly directly
converts magnetic energy into kinetic energy in the form of
bidirectional plasma jets. The process is initiated in a narrow
source region that is called the diffusion region. According
to the theory, both resistive and collisionless processes can
initiate reconnection. One of the key predicted signatures of
collisionless reconnection is the separation between ions and
electrons (plasma) in the diffusion region. This separation is
said to create a quadrupolar system of Hall currents and,
thus, an associated set of Hall magnetic elds. Even here
however, it is understood that any released energy comes not
from neutral points, lines, or surfaces, where no energy is
stored, or bulk movement of plasma but from the surrounding
magnetic eld structure that depends on those Hall currents for
its existence.
The crucial difference between the two explanations is the
question of which quantity (time-varying electric current or
moving magnetic lines) causes energy release from the mag-
netized plasma.
Alfvn [1] was explicit in his condemnation of the recon-
necting concept: Of course there can be no magnetic merging
energy transfer. The most important criticism of the merging
mechanism is that by Heikkila [21], who, with increasing
strength, has demonstrated that it is wrong. In spite of all
this, we have witnessed, at the same time, an enormously
voluminous formalism building up based on this obviously
erroneous concept.
I was nave enough to believe that [magnetic recombination]
would die by itself in the scientic community, and I con-
centrated my work on more pleasant problems. To my great
surprise the opposite has occurred: merging . . . seems to be
increasingly powerful. Magnetospheric physics and solar wind
physics today are no doubt in a chaotic state, and a major
reason for this is that part of the published papers are science
and part pseudoscience, perhaps even with a majority in the
latter group.
V. ROLE OF ELECTRIC CURRENTS IN THE COSMOS
No real magnetic eld can exist anywhere without an associ-
ated moving charge (electric current). Conversely, any electric
current will create a magnetic eld. The applicable Maxwell
equation describes this inherent interrelationship, i.e.,
H = j +
dE
dt
(10)
where j is the current density, and the second term on the
right is the displacement current, which is often neglected.
However, it is sometimes convenient to account for the kinetic
826 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 35, NO. 4, AUGUST 2007
energy of a magnetized plasma by introducing the effective
permittivity, i.e.,

1 + (c/V
MH
)
2

(11)
where c and V
MH
are the velocities of light and of hydrody-
namic waves. If this is done, the displacement current can be
large [1]. In any event, all terms in the equation are expressed
in amperes per square meter. Magnetic ux density B = H
(where is the magnetic permeability of the medium). Equa-
tion (10) denes the inherent coupling of magnetic elds and
electric currents. The classroom interpretation of this relation-
ship is called the right-hand rule. Point your right thumb in
the direction of the current density vector; your ngers show
the direction of the magnetic eld (and vice versa). Although
magnetic elds are often included in astronomical hypotheses,
the inherently associated electric currents are rarely mentioned.
In addition, as is true in the proposed reconnection mechanism,
the behavior of cosmic magnetic elds and the release of energy
from those elds can only be understood by referencing the
behavior of their causative electric currents.
VI. FROZEN-IN MAGNETIC FIELDS
Astrophysicists often assume that plasmas are perfect con-
ductors, and as such, any magnetic eld in any plasma must be
frozen inside it. (This rigid attachment is assumed in the mag-
netic reconnection mechanism that is discussed in Section IV.)
Indeed, it was plasma pioneer Alfvn who rst proposed this
idea. It was based on the observation that, since plasmas were
thought to be perfect conductors, they cannot sustain electric
elds.
Alfvns original motivation for proposing frozen-in elds
stemmed from another one of Maxwells equations, i.e.,
E =
dB
dt
. (12)
This implies that if the electric eld in a region of plasma is
identically zero valued (as it would have to be if the medium
had zero resistanceperfect conductivity), then any magnetic
eld within that region must be time invariant (must be frozen).
Thus, if all plasmas are ideal conductors (and thus cannot
support electric elds), then any magnetic elds inside such
plasmas must be frozen in, i.e., cannot move or change in any
way with time.
The electrical conductivity of any material, including plasma,
is determined by two main factors, namely: 1) the density of the
population of available charge carriers (free ions and electrons)
in the medium and 2) the mobility of these carriers. Most,
if not all, cosmic plasmas are magnetized (contain large and
long internal magnetic elds). In any such plasma, the trans-
verse (perpendicular to this eld) mobility of charge carriers
is severely restricted because of the spinning motion that is
imposed on their momentum by Lorentz force (3). Mobility
in the parallel (and antiparallel) direction, being unaffected by
this transverse force, is extremely high because electrons and
ions have long mean-free paths in such plasmas. However, the
density (the number per unit volume) of these charge carriers
may not be at all high, particularly, if the plasma is a very
low pressure (diffused) one. Therefore, conductivity is less than
ideal, even in the longitudinal direction, in cosmic plasma.
Laboratory measurements demonstrate that a nonzero-valued
electric eld in the direction of the current (E
parallel
> 0)
is required to produce a nonzero current density within any
plasma no matter what mode of operation the plasma is in.
Negative-slope regions of the volt-ampere characteristic (neg-
ative dynamic resistance) of a plasma column reveal the cause
of the lamentary properties of plasma, but all static resistance
values are measured to be > 0.
Thus, although plasmas are excellent conductors, they are not
perfect conductors. Weak longitudinal electric elds can and do
exist inside plasmas. Therefore, magnetic elds are not frozen
inside them.
When, in his acceptance speech of the 1970 Nobel Prize in
physics, Alfvn pointed out that this frozen-in idea, which he
had earlier endorsed, was false, many astrophysicists chose not
to listen. In reality, magnetic elds do move with respect to
cosmic plasma cells and, in doing so, induce electric currents.
This mechanism (which generates electric current) is one cause
of the phenomena that is described by what is now called
plasma cosmology.
Alfvn said, I thought that the frozen-in concept was very
good from a pedagogical point of view, and indeed it became
very popular. In reality, however, it was not a good pedagog-
ical concept but a dangerous pseudo pedagogical concept.
By pseudo pedagogical I mean a concept which makes you
believe that you understand a phenomenon whereas in reality
you have drastically misunderstood it.
Now, we know that there are slight voltage differences be-
tween different points in plasmas. Many astrophysicists are still
unaware of this property of plasmas, and so, we often still
read unqualied assertions such as Once a plasma contains
magnetic elds, they move with the plasma as if the magnetic
eld lines were frozen in [18].
In addition, . . . plasmas and magnetic elds interact; they
behave, approximately, as if they are frozen together [19].
. . . elds that are stuck inside conductors take a long time
to diffuse out (i.e., the magnetic ux is frozen into the moving
plasma) [20].
VII. CONCLUSION
Maxwell showed that magnetic elds are the inseparable
handmaidens of electric currents and vice versa. This is as
true in the cosmos as it is here on Earth. Those investigators
who, for whatever reason, have not been exposed to the now
well-known properties of real plasmas and electromagnetic
eld theory must refrain from inventing new mechanisms in
efforts to support current-free cosmic models. New science
should not be invoked until all of what is now known about
electromagnetic elds and electric currents in space plasma
has been considered. Pronouncements that are in contradiction
to Maxwells equations ought to be openly challenged by
responsible scientists and engineers.
SCOTT: REAL PROPERTIES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND PLASMA IN THE COSMOS 827
REFERENCES
[1] H. Alfvn, Double layers and circuits in astrophysics, IEEE Trans.
Plasma Sci., vol. PS-14, no. 6, p. 788, Dec. 1986.
[2] H. Alfvn, Cosmic Plasma. New York: Reidel, 1981.
[3] H. Alfvn and C. G. Falthmmer, Cosmical Electrodynamics. London,
U.K.: Oxford Univ. Press, 1963.
[4] E. J. Lerner, Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, West Orange, NJ. private
communication, Jun. 2005.
[5] H. Alfvn, Model of the plasma universe, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.,
vol. PS-14, no. 6, pp. 631632, Dec. 1986.
[6] A. L. Peratt, Physics of the Plasma Universe. New York: Springer-
Verlag, 1992, pp. 120122. 285-303.
[7] D. P. Stern and M. Peredo, The Magnetopause. Washington, DC:
NASA. [Online]. Available: http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/
wmpause.html
[8] M. Banaszkiewicz, W. I. Axford, and J. F. McKenzie, An analytic solar
magnetic eld model, Astron. Astrophys., vol. 337, no. 3, pp. 940944,
1998.
[9] Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF), San Antonio, TX: Southwest Res.
Inst. [Online]. Available: http://pluto.space.swri.edu/image/glossary/
IMF.html
[10] L. Anderson and S. Young, Effects of Solar Wind on the Near-Earth
Geospace and Magnetosphere, Montana State Univ. [Online]. Available:
http://www.cem.msu.edu/~cem181h/projects/97/solar/index.htm
[11] H. Hudson and A. Takeda. (2001, Nov. 16). A skinny but robust coronal
hole, Science Nugget. [Online]. Available: http://solar.physics.montana.
edu/nuggets/2001/011116/011116.html
[12] D. W. Longcope, Topological Methods for the Analysis of Solar Magnetic
Fields, Dept. Phys., Montana State Univ. [Online]. Available: http://
solarphysics.livingreviews.org/Articles/lrsp-2005-7/
[13] M. Morris, Astronomers Report Unprecedented Double Helix Nebula
Near Center of the Milky Way, Los Angeles, CA: Dept. Phys. and
Astronomy, UCLA. [Online]. Available: http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/
page.asp?RelNum=6903
[14] Magnetic Field Lines. Washington, DC: NASA. [Online]. Available:
http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wdline.html
[15] P. Sullivan, Magnetic Reconnection. Hanover, NH: Dept. Phys. and
Astronomy, Dartmouth Univ. [Online]. Available: http://www.dartmouth.
edu/~bpsullivan/recon.html
[16] D. E. Scott, An Introduction to Circuit Analysis. New York: McGraw-
Hill, 1987, pp. 127130.
[17] M. ieroset et al., Winds encounter with the collisionless magnetic
reconnection diffusion region in the Earths magnetic tail, in Proc. Amer.
Geophys. Union Fall Meeting, 2001, abstract #SM42C-01.
[18] K. Dolag, M. Bartelmann, and H. Lesch, Magnetic Fields in Galaxy
Clusters, Garching, Germany: Max Planck Inst. for Astrophysics.
[Online]. Available: http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/HIGHLIGHT/
1999/highlight9909_e.html
[19] S. Cowley, A beginners guide to the Earths magnetosphere, Earth
Space, vol. 8, no. 7, p. 9, Mar. 1996.
[20] I. G. Furno et al., Research Highlights Magnetic Reconnection Studies
Conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory. [Online]. Available:
http://www.lanl.gov/p/rh03_intrator.shtml
[21] W. J. Heikkila, Astrophys, Space Sci., vol. 23, p. 261, 1973.
Donald E. Scott received the Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Univer-
sity of Connecticut, Storrs, and the Ph.D. degree from Worcester Polytechnic
Institute, Worcester, MA, all in electrical engineering.
He was with General Electric (LSTG) in Schenectady, NY, and Pittseld,
MA (Lightning Arrester Division). From 1959 to 1998, he was a member
of the faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He was, at various times, an Assistant
Department Head, the Director of the undergraduate program, the Graduate
Admissions Coordinator, and the Director of the College of Engineerings
Video Instructional Program. In 1984, he was a Guest Lecturer in the School
of Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. He is the author of An
Introduction To Circuit AnalysisA Systems Approach (McGraw-Hill Book
Company, 1987) and The Electric SkyA Challenge to the Myths of Modern
Astronomy (Mikamar Publishing, 2006). This latest work details and expands
on the theme of this paper, and addresses the legitimacy of many of the
assumptions, hypothetical entities, and forces that are required by presently
accepted nonelectrical gravity-only-based theories of astrophysics.
Dr. Scott was the recipient of several good-teaching awards.
On the Suns Electric-Field
D. E. Scott, Ph.D. (EE)
Introduction
Most investigators who are receptive to the Electric Sun Model agree that the Sun is
electrically charged to a high voltage and acts as the anode in a plasma discharge. The
Suns corona is the most visible part of that plasma. The cathode in this discharge is a
virtual cathode a surface located at a large distance from the Sun, several times the
distance of the outermost planets. The entire volume from the Sun out to the cathode
contains plasma. Thus the name solar plasmasphere is (ought to be) used to describe it.
The outer surface of the plasmasphere is called the heliopause and is probably a plasma
sheath (possibly a single or double layer (DL) of electrical charge). This layer is the
virtual cathode.

The structure of the plasma inside the solar plasmasphere is akin to the electric plasma
discharge seen in a Crookes Tube. In the laboratory this is often in the form of a glass
cylinder with an anode (high voltage electrode) at one end and a cathode (low or
reference voltage anode) at the other. The tube is filled with low-pressure gas, a voltage
is applied from one electrode to the other, and an electric plasma discharge takes place
inside the tube.

This discharge can be in the dark mode, glow mode, or arc mode depending on the values
of several variables, notably the strength of the electric current density that exists within
the plasma.

Unfortunately the cylindrical shape of the Crookes tube is quite different from the
spherical shape of the plasma surrounding the Sun. The purpose of this paper is to
investigate the consequences of that spherical geometry especially in regard to the
possible electric field strength distributions within the solar plasma (inside the
plasmasphere).
Assumptions
1. The solar plasma is generally quasi-neutral, which means that the number of free
electrons and the number of positive ions within any reasonably sized volume
(1m
3
to 1km
3
) are equal. This is not to say that quasi-neutrality is strictly adhered
to within every region of the solar plasmasphere. It clearly is not.
2. The solar plasma (as any plasma) is not an ideal, zero-resistance entity. However,
plasma generally cannot support high-valued electric fields (large voltage drops
between two closely spaced points). In the event a high-valued voltage drop is
imposed between two points in plasma, a DL will form somewhere between the
points such that the greater part of the applied voltage drop will occur inside this
DL. Because of this effect, only low-valued electric fields can and do exist within
the solar plasmasphere (along with one or more DLs).
2
3. The Sun is not an isolated point charge within a vacuum. So the application of
classical electrostatic analyses to the solar plasma is inappropriate, Maxwells
equations can be used productively in limited and well-defined ways especially
in regions of non-quasi-neutrality.
The Suns E-field
The Sun is an electrically charged sphere. We can apply Maxwells equations to this
geometry. One of those equations states the primary property of any electric field: the
divergence of the electric intensity, D = E, at any point is equal to the charge density, ,
at that point. The quantity is the permittivity
1
of the medium.
) ( ) ( r r E div c = (1)
or ) ( ) ( r r E c = V (2)
This can also be written in integral form as

}
= Q dS E c (3)
This states that the total electrical flux emerging perpendicularly from the surface
surrounding a closed volume is equal to the net electrical charge enclosed within that
volume. In other words, electric fields begin on positive charges and end on negative
charges. A total charge, Q, within a spherical volume whose surface area is S, will
produce an electric field external to S. Because the surface area of a sphere is
2
4 r t , we
have from expression 3
Q R E
S
=
2
4t c (4)
where R
S
is the radius of the Suns anode surface (the radius of the effective radial limit
of the Suns internal electric charge distribution).
or
2
4
S
R
Q
E
tc
= (5)
The value given by expression 5 is the strength of the Suns outwardly directed electric
field immediately above its surface. We know little or nothing about the strength of this
field because we have no way of calculating the value of Q (the total electrical charge on
the Sun) nor any ability to measure it directly. In writing the above expressions, we are
assuming that the electric field strength has no altitudinal or azimuthal variation it is
isotropic, being a function only of r, the radial dimension. This is probably not the case
along the polar axis external to the Suns surface.

What is the strength of the E-field at some point farther out from the surface? If the Suns
surroundings contain no net electrical charge, then we can answer, similarly as in
expression 5:

2
4
) (
r
Q
r E
tc
= (6)
But, r is now the radius of an imaginary sphere that is larger than the Sun (r > R
S
). Of
course this larger sphere still only contains the original amount of charge, Q, that is inside
the Sun. Expression 6 tells us that as long as there is no additional net charge located
outside of the Suns anode surface, the strength of the electric field emanating from it,
decreases inversely as the square of the radial distance at which it is measured. This is the
classical electrostatic result proclaimed by those who ignore electric charge densities
3
within the Suns surrounding plasma. This represents an over-simplification and, as such,
yields an erroneous result. It ignores the fact that a great amount of electric charge exists
in the solar plasma and that some of that is probably in the form of layers DLs.

For example, suppose there is a layer (shell) of charge density beginning out at some
distance, r
1
. Can the point forms of this Maxwell equation (expressions 1 and 2) tell us
anything about the resulting E-field in this case? Yes, provided the applicable geometry is
used. The general expression for divergence in spherical coordinates is
( ) ( )
u
u
u u

u
c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
=
D
r
D
r
D r
r r
D div
r
sin
1
sin
sin
1 1
2
2
(7)
where D = E. Assuming an isotropic spherical geometry (in which there is no azimuthal
nor altitudinal variation) the last two terms on the right have zero value and so expression
7 simplifies to the ordinary differential equation:
( ) ) ( ) (
1
2
2
r r E r
dr
d
r
c = (8)
By referencing the structure of typical laboratory plasma discharges, it is well known that
the first layer above the anode surface called the anode dark space (ADS) can contain
either positive or negative charge. In either event, the charge density in this space is
essentially a constant,
ADS
. Thus, for values of r in that region, we have
( )
ADS
r E r
dr
d
r
c = ) (
1
2
2
(9)
This is satisfied by
r r E
ADS
c

3
) ( = (10)
The E-field in this layer is thus a ramp function (of radial distance) whose slope depends
on the value (and algebraic sign) of
ADS
. Thus, within a layer of uniform positive space
charge density, the electric field strength will increase linearly with increasing altitude
(distance from the Sun). Within a region of uniform negative space charge density, the
electric field strength will decrease linearly with increasing r. The Suns E-field cannot
be discontinuous in regions where there are only finite charge densities. With this
knowledge, we can plot an approximation of the strength of the Suns electric field within
a charge layer situated above the solar surface.

Above the anode dark space there are several different charge shells (layers). All of these
are assumed to contain either positive, negative, or zero (quasi-neutral) valued charge
densities and expression 10 is valid. Note that r is measured outward from the Suns
center.

In general, equation (8) is valid for a variety of charge density distributions within the
solar plasma whose density varies with increasing r. In this expression, (r) is the
excess charge density distribution. If the plasma is truly quasi-neutral, then (r) = 0. If
there are more positive ions than electrons in a given region, then (r) > 0. If there are
more electrons than +ions, (r) is a negative quantity ((r) < 0).

4
Let us postulate several different functions for E(r) and determine what, if any, (r)
function is required to create each of them. For example, the following table lists five
pairs of E(r) and (r) functions that are mutually consistent within the constraints of
equation 8.


E(r) (r)

1. 0 0
2.
2
0
r
E
0
3.
r
E
0

2
0
r
E c

4.
0
E
r
E
0
2c

5. r E
0

0
3 E c

In these pairs of functions r > R
S
and
tc 4
0
Q
E = such that expression 5 obtains when r =
R
S
.

The first function is simply a special case of #2 where
0
E = 0. This is the case of an
uncharged (non-electric) Sun.

The second function is the classic isolated charged Sun not surrounded by any kind of
charge layers as described in expression 6.

Pairs #3 and #4 suggest that, if there are more positive ions than electrons in the
atmosphere of the Sun, that the electric field would be stronger farther out from the Sun
than in case #2. In fact, in case #4, we see that an excess charge density that tapers off
inversely as the first power of distance, will produce a constant strength E-field
(independent of distance). It is often the case in electrical discharges that a somewhat
higher density of positive charge is found near the anode, so these cases (#3 and #4) are
of more than just academic interest.

The fifth pair of functions is a restatement of expression 10. Consider that the heliopause
(the outer edge of the solar plasmasphere) serves as the virtual cathode for this overall
discharge. We often find an excess of (secondary) electrons near the cathode of a
discharge. And we realize that the solar electric field must end on a shell of electrons. For
a long distance inside the heliopause, as we travel outward from the Sun, the solar plasma
is probably fairly quasi-neutral. The excess charge density has been zero-valued.
Therefore, according to function pair #2, the E-field has been decreasing as the square of
radial distance.

If the heliopause (virtual cathode of the solar plasma discharge) consists of a layer of
electrons whose density, (r), is a constant (negative value) for some distance beyond its
5
inner edge. This corresponds to the 5
th
pair of functions but with E
0
being a negative
constant. Thus we see (again) that the electric field in that region would be negative and
would increase in strength with increasing distance, r. This increasing negative E-field
would represent an inward force on any positively charged space probe approaching it
from the inner plasmasphere. Such a force might be observed as an anomalous effect on
the crafts velocity.
Conclusion
The application of Maxwells equations to the correct spherical geometry of the Suns
environment suggests a set of self-consistent, non-zero-valued electric-field functions and
space-charge distributions that EU theorists have long felt existed, but have not
previously been described quantitatively. These variations in the electric field suggest a
possible explanatory mechanism for the here-to-fore inexplicable, anomalous behavior
of space probes in the vicinity of the heliopause.


1
Permittivity of a region of plasma is a function of the velocity of hydromagnetic waves in that medium. In
a spherical geometry (one in which the excess charge density may change with r), this factor may not be a
constant further complicating the analysis.
180 The Open Astronomy J ournal, 2011, 4, (Suppl 2-M3) 180-184

1874-3811/11 2011 Bentham Open
Open Access
Electric Currents Key to Magnetic Phenomena
Donald E. Scott*
University of Massachusetts/Amherst, USA
Abstract: Including the effects of electric currents in any description of the origin, shape, or motion of cosmic
magnetized plasma is crucial for understanding many observed astronomical phenomena. The Maxwell (Heaviside)
equations are based on real experimental measurements. These fundamental expressions clearly link electric current
densities, magnetic flux densities, and electric fields into a unified conceptual whole. Examples are presented to
demonstrate the pitfalls of omitting the contribution and effects of currents from descriptions of the behavior of magnetic
fields. An example suggests a possible electrical explanation of the enigmatic cyclical reversal of magnetic polarities near
sunspots and demonstrates the unique insight afforded by including the causal effects of currents.
Keywords: Plasma, electromagnetism, reversing solar magnetic field, solar and cosmic electric currents, magnetic
reconnection.
I . I NTRODUCTI ON
Ever since Gauss, Faraday, and others
1
provided the ex-
perimental measurements that J . C. Maxwell and Oliver
Heaviside codified into their four basic equations, there have
been two different methodologies advanced in astrophysics
for explaining and predicting the behavior of cosmic mag-
netic phenomena. One of these involves the explicit inclu-
sion of causal electric currents and one shuns any mention of
them.
The two Maxwell curl equations provide the basis of this
dichotomy.
B=
0
J +
0

0
E
t
(1)
and
E =
B
t
(2)
where B is the magnetic flux density (Webers/m
2
), J is
the electric current density (Amps/m
2
), E is the electric field
(V/m or Newtons/Coulomb);
0
and
0
are, respectively,
the magnetic permeability and electric permittivity of
free space. All the upper case symbols in (1) and (2)
represent vectors. The second term on the right in (1) is
called the displacement current and is often ignored in order
to simplify the equation. However it is sometimes
convenient to account for the kinetic energy of magnetized
plasma as being

*Address correspondence to this author at the University of Massachu-
setts/Amherst, USA; Tel: (480) 688-4414; E-mail: dascott3@cox.net.
#
Retired

1
In 1821 Hans Christian ersted in Denmark found, that an electric current caused a
compass needle to move. An electric current produced a magnetic force. Andre-Marie
Ampere in France soon unraveled the meaning. The fundamental nature of magnetism
was not associated with magnetic poles or iron magnets, but with electric currents. The
magnetic force was basically a force between electric currents.
=
0
1+ c V
MH
( )
2

(3)
where c and V
MH
are, respectively, the velocities of light and
hydromagnetic waves [1]. (If this formulation is used, the
displacement current is often large.) And therein lies the rub.
I I . AVOI DI NG CURRENTS
Those who prefer to avoid explicit mention of electric
currents solve the simplified form of (1) for the quantity J
(using B
( )
/
0
in its place). This is acceptable in describ-
ing a number of phenomena:
Magnetic fields by themselves are measured more
easily than are currents.
Magnetic fields by themselves are basic to the
study of plasma anisotropy and high-energy par-
ticle motion.
Magnetic fields by themselves provide a good de-
scription of some waves in plasma.
However, use of magnetic fields without consideration of
electric currents, cannot provide clear understanding of:
The formation of double layers.
Explosive events such as solar flares, and mag-
netic substorms.
Formation of filaments in the solar atmosphere
(corona) and the plasmasphere of Venus.
Other phenomena that are mentioned below and
are the main purpose of this paper.
Equation (2) above implicitly involves electric current in
that it is the compact mathematical statement of the observa-
tion that any closed conducting loop that is linked by a time-
varying magnetic field will carry an induced current in the
direction that opposes the growth of that magnetic flux. (If
the loop is cut, a voltage will appear across the terminals
thus created). Therefore, (1) states that any current (or time
Electric Currents Key to Magnetic Phenomena The Open Astronomy J ournal, 2011, Volume 4 181
varying electric field) will produce a magnetic field; (2)
states that any time varying magnetic field that links a closed
conducting path (conducting loop) will produce a voltage
rise which in turn creates an electric current in the loop.
Magnetic fields that obey equation (1) cannot exist in the
absence of the current density, J , which is their cause. The
only magnetic fields that do not obey equation (1) are pro-
duced by bar magnets. There are no bar magnets in space.
I I I . ENI GMATI C PLASMA MOTI ONS
In descriptions that ignore the involvement of currents in
plasma phenomena several questions always remain unasked
(and therefore unaddressed). Basically, we must ask what
causes magnetic fields to move or change strength? For ex-
ample, in attempts to explain the cause of solar flares and
coronal mass ejections (CMEs), magnetic reconnection is
usually invoked. But what is magnetic reconnection [2, 3].
Usually explanations of magnetic reconnection start off
by saying, Two magnetic lines of force approach each
other, touch, and then separate in orthogonal directions. But
the first, most basic question that must be answered is what
makes those two lines move toward each other in the first
place? There is no known mechanism that can grab hold of
two adjacent lines of force in a magnetic field and push
them together. So how (why?) do they do this? Magnetic
fields do not have the ability of self-initiated volition. It is
impossible to answer basic questions such as this without
making reference to the time varying electric currents
(charge flows) that determine the shape and strength of the
involved magnetic fields.
An example of an appalling lack of knowledge about
how magnetic fields originate is the following extract from
an article in New Scientist [4]:
Relatively confined magnetic fields like those in the
Earth and Sun are generated by the turbulent mixing of con-
ducting fluids in their cores. But large-scale fields tangled
within galaxies and clusters of galaxies are harder to explain
by fluid mixing alone.
Where did this writer ever get the idea that the mixing of
conducting fluids creates magnetic fields? What Department
of Physics teaches this?
One can take salt water (a conducting fluid) or blood (a
very conductive fluid), mix it, whip it, homogenize it, boil it,
pour it from great heights or even centrifuge it, or try to
compress it no magnetic fields will result from any of these
actions. Magnetic fields are only created by and moved
around by electric currents or other magnetic fields but
nothing else, certainly not by mixing conductive fluids.
Another example this excerpt is taken from an article
entitled Possible Origin Of Magnetic Fields In Space Un-
covered [5]:
The data suggest that the ghost cavities are filled with
magnetic fields, which are released into the cosmos when the
cavities burst apart. This could explain the strong magnetic
forces that make up the structure of galaxy clusters, accord-
ing to the astronomers.
Weve known for the past 15 to 20 years that magnetic
fields exist, but we didnt understand how they got there,
said McNamara, an associate professor of physics and as-
tronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences whose research
is funded by NASA. This could be a viable mechanism.
[Emphasis added.]
This writer seriously suggests that the origin of magnetic
fields is ghost cavities that burst apart in the cosmos.
One more example (hundreds of such are easily obtain-
able via an Internet search on the topic: What causes mag-
netic fields?): in 2008 a NASA report contained the follow-
ing [6]:
NASA's five THEMIS spacecraft have discovered a
breach in Earth's magnetic field ten times larger than any-
thing previously thought to exist.
The magnetosphere is a bubble of magnetism that sur-
rounds Earth and protects us from solar wind. The event be-
gan with little warning when a gentle gust of solar wind
delivered a bundle of magnetic fields from the Sun to Earth.
Like an octopus wrapping its tentacles around a big clam,
solar magnetic fields draped themselves around the magne-
tosphere and cracked it open. [Emphasis added.]
Magnetic fields are not delivered in bundles. And the so-
lar wind does not move them around. Magnetic fields are
created by and moved around by electric currents nothing
else.
I V. MAGNETI CALLY STORED ENERGY
FARADAYS LAW The formal statement of Faradays
Law is, The induced electromotive force or EMF in any
closed circuit is equal to the time rate of change of the mag-
netic flux linking the circuit. This is a restatement of ex-
pression (2) above. In the case of a coil of wire wrapped
around a material core carrying magnetic flux, B, the voltage
across the terminals of the coil is given by
v =
dn
dt
(4)
where is the total magnetic flux in Webers (which is B, the
flux density in Webers per square meter integrated over the
cross-section of the coil). But in any electrical element that
has voltage, v, across it and current, i, through it, the energy
stored in that element is
W(t
0
) = v(t)i(t) dt

t
0

(5)
thus, for a constant number of turns, n, we have
W(t
0
) =
d n
( )
dt
i(t) dt
t=
t=t
0

(6)
= ni d
()
(t
0
)

(7)
If the relationship between the magnetic flux and the
applied ampere-turns, ni, is linear
t
( )
= k ni (8)
then (7) becomes
182 The Open Astronomy J ournal, 2011, Volume 4 Donald E. Scott
W(t
0
) = nikn di
()
(t
0
)

(9)
or W(t
0
) =
kn
2
2
i t
0
( )
2
=
1
2k
( )
t
0
( )
2
(10)
The energy stored in the magnetic field structure at any
instant, t
0
, is proportional to the square of the current, i(t
0
).
Similarly, the total energy stored in the magnetic field at any
time, t
0
, is proportional to the square of the total magnetic
flux at that instant, (t
0
). If the current is reduced to zero
value, all the energy previously stored in the field is released.
V. MAGNETI C CI RCUI TS
Equation (8) suggests that application of the forcing
function, ni, to a magnetically linear material (free space, air)
results in the production of a magnetic flux, , in much the
same way that the application of a voltage, v, across a resis-
tor produces a flow of charge, i.
For simplicity in the example sketched in Fig. (1), both
n
1
and n
2
are set to unity. The input current, i
1
, produces flux,
. The linear relationship between those quantities implies
that if i
1
increases, then will increase at an equal rate.
If i
1
is held constant (is time-invariant), then will also
be time-invariant, and there will be no current induced in the
second winding (so i
2
will be zero valued). Equations (2) and
(4) state that only a time varying magnetic field can induce a
non-zero valued i
2
. What (2) and (4) actually say is that, if
we cut the conducting loop, n
2
, creating two terminals, a
voltage, v
2
will be measured across those terminals that
would force current i
2
to flow in a resistor connected to those
terminals. The minus sign in equation (2) indicates that the
induced (secondary) current will be in a direction that tends
to oppose the growth of the magnetic flux. So the strength of
i
2
is determined by the time rate of growth of .
Consider a slight extension to the first example. See Fig.
(2). Suppose the input current, i
1
is now a time varying signal
one that never reverses direction, but can get stronger and
weaker.
As a result of the variation in i
1
, the magnetic flux, , will
also strengthen and weaken accordingly. If i
1
does not re-
verse its direction, neither will
1.
But, because of its
strengthening and weakening, the time rate of flux growth,

1
/t, will alternate in sign. Therefore, i
2
, which at every
instant flows in a direction to oppose the growth of
1
, will
also reverse its direction. This causes
2
to reverse its direc-
tion.
The conclusion that can be drawn from these examples is
that a unidirectional current, i
1
, if it varies in strength over
time, can produce a magnetic flux,
2
, that reverses direc-
tion. This effect is utilized in the electric power industry in
transformers and so is called transformer action.
VI . MAGNETI C FI ELDS THAT REVERSE THEI R
POLARI TY
Are there any examples of astronomical magnetic fields
that occasionally reverse their direction? And, if so, do we
know what causes them to do that?
Eugene N. Parker [7] correctly calls coronal loops
bulges in the Suns magnetic field. He states: The bulges
emerge through the surface of the Sun, forming bipolar mag-
netic regions, or magnetically active regions, with lengths up
to 200,000 km. The bipolar fields have opposite signs on
opposite sides of the equator, and the algebraic signs of the
fields reverse from one 11-year [sunspot] cycle to the next.
[Emphasis added]
This remains, for Parker, an enigmatic observation. Per-
haps if he were more amenable to consideration of an elec-
tric current causality, a clearer understanding might dawn. In
light of the previous example, we offer a possible explana-
tory mechanism in Fig. (3), below.
According to Alfvns stellar circuit [1], an electric cur-
rent (charge flow) enters or leaves each pole of the Sun.
n
1
i
1
n
2
i
2

Fig. (1). A simple magnetic circuit.
n
1
i
1
n
2
i
2

2

Fig. (2). Two magnetic paths linked by an induced secondary current.
Electric Currents Key to Magnetic Phenomena The Open Astronomy J ournal, 2011, Volume 4 183
Making use of the right-hand rule we can visualize the direc-
tions of the encircling magnetic field created by that current.
If the strength of this current is increasing, the magnetic field
will strengthen as well. Such time varying magnetic fields
can induce secondary currents
2
as shown in the earlier ex-
amples and also in Fig. (3). The secondary current will only
exist (have non-zero value) when the magnitude of the pri-
mary magnetic field is growing or shrinking.
If a secondary current filament is flowing southward
from near the Suns north pole and it is on or just beneath the
Suns surface, a looping magnetic field will emerge to the
east of the current creating a north magnetic pole there.
(Right thumb directed toward the south, fingers emerging up
out of the surface on its east side.) The loop will move out
above the Suns surface and then return down into the sur-
face forming a south magnetic pole to the west of the cur-
rent. Recall that a north magnetic pole is a region where the
magnetic flux emerges from a solid.
3
In the Suns southern
hemisphere, the secondary surface current is flowing north-
ward toward the solar equator. The resulting magnetic field
will emerge (north magnetic pole) to the west of the current
and return down to the surface (forming a south magnetic
pole) to the east of the current.

2
A secondary current will always flow in a direction that tends to oppose the growth of
the magnetic field that induces it. This relationship can be seen in figures 2 and 3.
3
The end of a compass needle marked N is indeed a north magnetic pole. It points
almost toward Earths north pole. Thus, the region near Earths North Pole (toward
which the compass points) is, in reality, a south magnetic pole. A magnetic field is
leaving the compass needle and flowing into the earth near the north geographic pole.
That field then comes out of the Earth near the geographic south pole (creating there a
north magnetic pole) and then flows into the end of the compass needle marked S.
Regardless of the direction of the main driving current
coming into the Sun, the eleven-year reversal of the mag-
netic loops can be explained by transformer action as shown
above. If the main magnetic field that induces the surface
currents is growing in strength, the surface current will point
in one direction. If the main magnetic field starts to weaken
in intensity, the secondary (surface) current will reverse di-
rection. Consequently the magnetic polarity of the Omega
loops will also reverse. Notice that this mechanism does not
require the main solar driving current itself to reverse direc-
tion, only to vary in amplitude. Thus the action described by
Parker (The bipolar fields have opposite signs on opposite
sides of the equator.) follows directly from Alfvns circuit.
The presence of sub-surface electric currents on the Sun
is not just mere speculation. In August 1997, scientists at
Stanford University [8] announced that, using the joint
European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA Solar and Helio-
spheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, they had discovered
jet streams or what they called rivers of hot, electrically
charged gas (plasma) flowing beneath the surface of the
Sun. They also found features similar to trade winds that
transport this gas below the Sun's surface. Flows of electric
charges such as these are, by definition, electric currents.
The image [9] that accompanied the press release has an al-
most one-to-one correspondence with Fig. (3).
So these reversing magnetic fields on the Suns surface
provide an archetypical example of an observed phenomenon
that cannot be understood without reference to the electric
currents that cause it. And even though data supporting the
electrical model proposed here were published as long ago as

Fig. (3). Primary and secondary electric currents in the Sun.
184 The Open Astronomy J ournal, 2011, Volume 4 Donald E. Scott
1997, mainstream astronomers have not yet begun to ac-
knowledge the importance of electric currents neither on
the Sun, or anywhere else for that matter.
VI I . CONCLUSI ON
The well-known inter-relationships between electric cur-
rents and magnetic fields so succinctly described a century
ago by Maxwell, together with the analytical tools of modern
circuit analysis, now offer investigators in astrophysics an
expanded set of techniques and concepts by which they can
advance their understanding of what otherwise will remain,
for them, enigmatic observations. The obstinate refusal of
astrophysicists to acknowledge the efficacy of electric cur-
rents in the cosmos is a self-imposed obstacle to their future
progress. They would do well to remove it.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
None Declared.
CONFLI CT OF I NTEREST
None Declared.
REFERENCES
[1] Alfvn H. Double layers and circuits in astrophysics. IEEE Trans
Plasma Sci 1986; vol. PS-14: pp. 779-793
[2] Scott DE. Special issue on space and cosmic plasma. IEEE Trans
Plasma Sci 2007; 35(4). http://members.cox.net/dascott3/IEEE-
TransPlasmaSci-Scott-aug2007.pdf
[3] Scott DE. The Electric Sky. Portland: Mikamar Publishing 2006.
[4] http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8544-how-the-universes-
first-magnetic-field-formed.html
[5] http://www.unisci.com/stories/20021/0109021.htm
[6] http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-
nasa/2008/16dec_giantbreach
[7] Parker EN. The physics of the sun and the gateway to the stars.
Phys Today 2000; 53: 26-31.
[8] http://soi.stanford.edu/press/ssu8-97/ssu.html
[9] http://solar-center.stanford.edu/images/plasmacom.jpg

Received: April 21, 2011 Revised: May 19, 2011 Accepted: May 19, 2011
Donald E. Scott; Licensee BenthamOpen.
This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the
work is properly cited.

The Electronic Sun
Summary Notes
Donald E. Scott, Ph.D. (EE)
Part I.
Why the Lower Corona of the Sun Is Hotter Than the Photosphere

Figure 1 Temperature vs Altitude Above the Suns Surface.

The temperature profile of the Sun shown in figure 1 resists simple explanation. Of all the ideas
offered up as being a possible cause of the extreme temperature (more than 2 million Kelvin)
measured in the lower corona of our Sun, the simplest is that electrically accelerated, high
velocity, positive ions are colliding with relatively static ions and neutral atoms in that location.
The resulting chaos of Brownian motion produces the high temperature that is measured at that
level. See the right hand side of figure 1.

The electrical properties of the Photosphere / Chromosphere / Lower corona region of the Suns
visible boundary are described in J uergens Electric Sun model as being dominated by a double
layer (DL) of electrical charge
i
. This double charge layer is shown in the middle plot in figure 2
(below). This DL is responsible for accelerating +ions outward, up from the Suns surface. The
basic mechanism is described as follows.

Positive ions in the photospheric plasma do not experience external electrostatic forces when
they are within the photosphere (region a to b in figure 2). Only diffusion motion (response to a
concentration gradient) and random thermal (Brownian) movement occurs there. Temperature is
simply the measurement of the violence of those random movements. The photosphere is where
the Suns low ~5800 K surface temperature is measured. Figure 2 shows a cross-section through
a photospheric granule (anode tuft).
a
b c d
E
n
e
r
g
y

p
e
r

u
n
i
t

c
h
a
r
g
e

(
V
o
l
t
s
)
Photosphere
Lower Corona
C
h
r
o
m
o
s
p
h
e
r
e
Radial
Distance
(r)
O
u
t
w
a
r
d

E
l
e
c
t
r
i
c

F
i
e
l
d
,

E
F
o
r
c
e

p
e
r

u
n
i
t

c
h
a
r
g
e




(
V
o
l
t
s

p
e
r

m
e
t
e
r
)
Radial
Distance
(r)
Maximum outward
force = Max outward
acceleration of +ions.
Radial
Distance
(r)
Region of turbulence.
Max Brownian motion
Max temperature.
O
u
t
w
a
r
d

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

o
f
a

P
o
s
i
t
i
v
e

I
o
n

(
m
/
s
)
Point of maximum
acceleration
a b c d
Region of
Laminar Flow
Positive charge
layers
Negative charge
layer
DL


Figure 2. The double layer of electrical charge in the Electric Suns chromosphere accelerates
positive ions outward, away from the Sun.
Top: Electrical energy (voltage) of a positive ion as a function of its position.
Middle: Outward force on a positive ion as a function of its position.
Bottom: Outward velocity of a positive ion as a function of its position.

The top voltage plot in figure 2 shows that positive ions have their maximum electrical potential
energy when they are in the photospheric plasma. But their mechanical (kinetic) energy
(temperature) is relatively low. At a point just to the left of the right hand edge of the photospheric
energy plateau (point b), any random movement toward the right (radially outward) that carries a
+ion even slightly over the edge will result in its being swept away, down the energy hill, toward
the right.

The middle plot in the figure above shows the strength of the E-field (voltage gradient) consistent
with this spatial voltage distribution. The charge density layers that produce this electric field are
superimposed on this plot. The E-field is the force per unit charge that will be applied to any +ions
in this region. In region b to d, this force accelerates each such +ion in the outward direction. This
acceleration reaches a maximum at point c, and the +ions outward velocity reaches a maximum
value near point d.

As these positive ions accelerate down the steep potential energy drop (b to d), they exchange
the high (electrical) potential energy they had in the photosphere into kinetic energy they gain
2
extremely high outward radial velocity and lose side-to-side random motion. Thus they become
de-thermalized. This is because in this region of high radial acceleration, the movement of these
ions becomes extremely organized (parallel). Their temperature, which is just a measure of their
random motion, drops to a minimum.

When these rapidly traveling +ions pass beyond the reach of the intense outwardly directed E-
field force (at point d) that has been accelerating them, they have reached the bottom of the hill
and are moving much faster than when they were at the top. Because of their high kinetic energy,
any collisions they have at this point with other ions or neutral atoms are violent. This creates
high-amplitude random motions, thereby re-thermalizing the ions and atoms in this region
(shown in red in figure 2) to a much higher temperature. The sparkling x-ray emissions that have
been observed here in the lower corona are undoubtedly due to these collisions.

Ions above (in the diagram, to the right of) point d are reported to be at temperatures of one to
two million K. Nothing else but exactly this kind of result could be expected from the Electric Sun
model. The ions proceed off to the right and become the major constituent of the solar wind.

The re-thermalization takes place in a region analogous to the turbulent white water that boils up
at the bottom of a smooth laminar water slide. In the fusion model no such (water slide)
phenomenon exists and therefore neither does any simple explanation of the observed
temperature discontinuity.

Notice that no mention has been made in this process of flux-tubes or magnetic reconnection or,
in fact, of any magnetic mechanism whatsoever. Strictly electrical forces that occur within the
charge layers above the Suns surface cause the observed temperature inversion phenomenon.

So, the Electric Sun model straightforwardly predicts and explains the existence of the observed
temperature profile. In fact, if there were no temperature discontinuity, this would pose a problem
for the Electric Sun hypothesis. However, until now, certain other observed characteristics of the
Suns atmosphere have eluded explanation.

One such problem in solar astronomy is: What mechanism can vary the strength of the solar wind
(outward flow of +ions) and even shut it completely off for a period of two days as happened a
few years ago?

Oftentimes in the history of science a seemingly intractable problem finds its resolution when
someone recognizes that the solution to a different but analogous problem already has been
discovered. As described in the following section, it appears that the charge layers in the
J uergens Electric Sun model described above constitute a direct one-to-one analogy of a bipolar
junction transistor mechanism that is fully capable of regulating, controlling, or varying the solar
winds volume and intensity.

Part II
Transistor Analog of the Suns Surface

A bipolar junction transistor is a three terminal active device wherein a weakly varying voltage is
able to control the amplitude of a large current. The following few paragraphs contain a basic
description of how that occurs.

Inserting certain impurities into either a pure silicon or germanium crystal makes it n-type or p-
type material. A bipolar transistor is a three-part sandwich: either pnp or npn.
3

Figure 1. An unbiased npn transistor. The vertical axis is electric potential energy per unit charge
(Volts).
(Credit: The Scots Guide to Electronics
ii
)
In n-type material, electrons move freely within the conduction energy band (upper band in figure
1). In p-type material holes move in the valence energy band (lower band in figure 1). Where two
such different materials join, a depletion zone (location shown by the two vertical red lines in
figure 1) forms due to recombination. The lack of charge carriers in those zones is sufficient to
prevent current (charge flow) crossing those two boundaries.

If an external voltage is applied (see figure 2) between the base and collector terminals, then the
height of the base-to-collector voltage drop can be increased. In this case the positive terminal of
a 10V battery is applied to the n-type collector and the negative side of the battery is applied to
the p-type base. This is called back biasing the base-collector junction. In the collector,
electrons are attracted toward the collector terminal and away from the base. In the base, holes
are attracted away from the collector. Both these actions widen the b-c depletion zone and
increase the height of the b-c voltage drop.


Figure 2 Back biasing the collector-base junction increases the height of the c-b barrier.
(Credit: The Scots Guide to Electronics
iii
)
4

Figure 3 Forward biasing the emitter-base junction reduces the height of the e-b barrier.
(Credit: The Scots Guide to Electronics
iv
)

Normal operation
Forward-biasing the e-b junction while maintaining the back bias voltage across the b-c junction
provides the voltage profile shown in figure 3. This reduces the height of the e-b barrier and
electrons flow from the emitter, diffuse across the base and fall into the collector. A slight change
in the e-b voltage produces a large change in the amount of current reaching the collector. This is
the normal operating mode of a bipolar transistor. It is important that we recognize the similarity
between the shape of the voltage profile in this figure and the voltage profile in Part Is figure 2.
The collector current is analogous to the outward drift of +ions in the solar wind.

A similar mechanism (varying the height of the voltage barrier between the anode-Sun and its
photosphere) would be able to control the strength of the solar wind. If the Sun's voltage were to
decrease slightly, say because of an excessive flow of outgoing +ions, the voltage rise (the
energy barrier) from the origin up to point a in the energy diagram of figure 2 (Part I) would
increase in height. This would reduce the number of ions able to escape from the Suns interior
into the photosphere (thus decreasing the solar wind flux). Such an effect provides a negative
feedback effect (one that would tend to hold the solar wind constant).

The solar/transistor analogy lies in recognizing the fact that the body of the Sun serves as the
emitter of a transistor-like structure. The photosphere serves as the base, and the lower corona
serves as the collector. In the case of a transistor, the controlled flow is the collector current. In
the Sun, the controlled flow is the stream of +ions that becomes the solar wind. Both these flows
are controllable by relatively small variations in the height of voltage barriers. A diagram
describing the analogy is given in figure 4, below.

As with any analogy, broad similarities are revealing. Exact correspondences are not necessary.
The transistor/Sun analogy is clearly not one-to-one in every respect. But generally similar
causes and effects in radically different applications do offer insights into conceptual similarities
that are otherwise elusive. The ability of digital transistor circuits to cut-off collector currents and
the ability of the layers of charge above the Suns surface to cut off the solar wind is an example
of such a similarity. The solar wind did indeed completely cut off for two days several years ago.
When this occurred it came as a shock to solar astronomers. The standard solar model is
incapable of explaining how or why this might have occurred. An unpredicted rise in the tufts
barrier voltage could have easily been the cause.
5
E
n
e
r
g
y

p
e
r

u
n
i
t

c
h
a
r
g
e

(
V
o
l
t
s
)
a b c d
Photosphere
Lower Corona
C
h
r
o
m
o
s
p
h
e
r
e
Radial
Di stance
(r)
O
u
t
w
a
r
d

E
l
e
c
t
r
i
c

F
i
e
l
d
,

E
F
o
r
c
e

p
e
r

u
n
i
t

c
h
a
r
g
e




(
V
o
l
t
s

p
e
r

m
e
t
e
r
)
Radi al
Di stance
(r)
Maximum outward
force = Max outward
acceleration of +ions.
Radial
Distance
(r)
Region of turbulence.
Max Brownian motion
Max temperature.
O
u
t
w
a
r
d

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

o
f
a

P
o
s
i
t
i
v
e

I
o
n

(
m
/
s
)
Point of maximum
acceleration
a b c d
Region of
Laminar Flow
Positive charge
layers
Negative charge
layer
DL
Emitter Base Collector
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
+ions
+ions diffuse across
this base region
This voltage rise
determines the
strength of the ion flow
This voltage drop
determines the
velocity of the ion flow.
(How many ions are
released from the Sun).

Figure 4 The transistor analog of the electrical mechanisms at work at the solar surface.
a b c d
E
n
e
r
g
y

p
e
r

u
n
i
t

c
h
a
r
g
e

(
V
o
l
t
s
)
Photosphere
Lower Corona
C
h
r
o
m
o
s
p
h
e
r
e
Radial
Distance
(r)
O
u
t
w
a
r
d

E
l
e
c
t
r
i
c

F
i
e
l
d
,

E
F
o
r
c
e

p
e
r

u
n
i
t

c
h
a
r
g
e




(
V
o
l
t
s

p
e
r

m
e
t
e
r
)
Radial
Distance
(r)
Radial
Distance
(r)
Region of turbulence.
Brownian motion
High temperature.
O
u
t
w
a
r
d

V
e
l
o
c
i
t
y

o
f
a

P
o
s
i
t
i
v
e

I
o
n

(
m
/
s
)
Point of maximum
acceleration
a b c d

Figure 5 Punch-through effect of solar +ions flooding out from sunspots at which DLs are not
present. (Credit: SOHO-MDI/EIT Consortiums, Yohkoh/SXT Project)
6


Punch-through and sunspots
In bipolar transistors a phenomenon called punch-through can be observed. If the collector-base
junction is back-biased to an excessive degree, the c-b depletion zone will be made so wide that
the base region may disappear altogether. In this event there will be no restraint to hold back
emitter carriers from flooding directly across into the collector. There is no effective emitter-base
barrier. An analogous phenomenon is observed above sunspots where there are no anode tufts.
So, at those locations no transistor-like mechanism is there to provide effective control of outward
flowing +ions. See figure 5 and figure 6.




Photosphere


Chromosphere


Lower Corona





Figure 6. The solar equivalent of transistor punch-though where +ions flood outward unconstrained
by the photospheric transistor-like barrier that is normally at work in the granules (anode tufts).

The Solar Transistor Model Explains
Why coronal hotspots appear in the lower corona above sunspots.
Why the corona changes shape from times of active to quiet Sun.
The solar winds flow rate depends on the voltage (energy) rise from the Suns interior up
to the photospheric tufts.
The initial velocity (and temperature) of the solar wind ions depends on the voltage
(energy) drop from the tufts down to the lower corona.
That transistor action can cut off the solar wind flow.
The Solar Transistor Model
Is an extension of J uergens electric Sun model.
Is additional evidence the ES model is valid.
Small voltage variations control large current (flows) both in normal transistors and on the
Sun.
No other mechanism capable of controlling, varying, or completely cutting off the solar
wind has yet been proposed.
7
8

Summary
An electric circuit is one that contains resistors, inductors, capacitors, sources, and perhaps
transformers. An electronic circuit also contains active elements such as transistors that provide
amplification of the signals (small variations in one variable producing large changes in another).
The Electric Sun model pioneered by C. E. R. Bruce, Ralph J uergens, Wal Thornhill and indirectly
by Hannes Alfvn is now extended to an Electronic Sun model via the analogy between its
surface phenomena and the action of a junction transistor. The efficacy of a relatively weak
voltage barrier in controlling large currents apparently occurs both in transistor circuits and also
just above the surface of the Sun.

i
J uergens, R. The Photosphere: Is It The Top Or The Bottom Of The Phenomenon We Call The Sun?, Kronos Vol. IV
No. 4, 1979 http://www.kronos-press.com/juergens/1979-photosphere-juergens.pdf
ii
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~jcgl/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm
iii
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~jcgl/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm
iv
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~jcgl/Scots_Guide/intro/electron.htm

Solar Electron Flux
Updated
i
2012
Dark Electrons Found by NASA (Alternate Title)

In the late 1970s Ralph J uergens investigated
ii
how (or whether) the Sun could be obtaining
its energy via an externally supplied flow of electrical power. He attempted to estimate the
number of available incoming electrons which, coupled with an estimated voltage of the Sun,
would be sufficient to supply the power we know the Sun is emitting. Now, in late 2011 and early
2012, we find that, because of data recently recovered by the Voyager I space probe, J uergens
estimate of the number of available incoming electrons was far too conservative (too low). Also
the radius of the heliosphere is over three times what he thought it might be. As a result of this
new data J uergens initial estimate of the Suns required cathode drop (voltage) was far too high.
The NASA release entitled NASAs Voyager Hits New Region at Solar SystemEdge
iii

provides the following important updates to the information J uergens used in making his
estimate:
1. Voyager I is now approaching the heliopause (the outer surface of the Suns
plasmasphere). It is approximately 16 to 24 billion kilometers (~2x10
13
m) from the
Sun. The probe has not yet crossed the boundary into interstellar space so this is a
minimum estimate of the radius of the heliosphere.
2. Voyager has detected a 100-fold increase in the intensity of high-energy electrons
entering our solar system from elsewhere in the galaxy. The original estimate was
100,000 free electrons per cubic m. Thus the updated figure is ~10
7
/m
3
.
3. The probe has been measuring the speed of the solar wind and for the first time in its
journey, the wind now blows back at us.

Using this new data we can recalculate J uergens estimate of how many incoming electrons
are available to the Electric Sun model. The solar constant, defined as the total radiant energy at
all wavelengths reaching an area of one square centimeter at the Earth's distance from the Sun, is
about 0.137 watts per square centimeter
iv
. It works out, then, that the Sun must be emitting about
6.5x10
7
watts per square meter of solar (photospheric) surface, and therefore the total power
output of the Sun is approximately 4x10
26
watts.
The hypothetical electric input must then provide a power of 4x10
26
watts. J uergens posited
that the Sun's cathode drop is of the order of 10
10
volts. In that event, the total power input
divided by that voltage is 4x10
16
amperes. The velocity of the interstellar winds is estimated
v
at
200 1000 km/s. This is in the range 2x10
5
and 10
6
m/s. So let us suppose that the effective
velocity of a typical interstellar electron is at least 10
5
m/s.
At the time J uergens made his calculation (1979), current estimates of the state of ionization
of the interstellar gas were that there should be at least 100,000 free electrons per cubic m. But in
light of the new update (see #2 above), this is now increased 100 fold to 10
7
/m
3
.

The random
electric current of these electrons would be I
r
=Nev where N is the electron density per cubic
meter, e is the electron charge in coulombs, and v is the average velocity of the electrons (in m/s).
Using these values, we find that
I
r
=Nev
=10
7
electrons x 1.6x10
-19
Coulombs/electron x 10
5
m/s
so the random electric current density is about 1.6x10
-7
Amp per square meter through a surface
oriented at any angle.
The total electron current that can be drawn by the solar discharge is the product of this
random current density and the surface area of the sphere occupied by the cathode drop. We now
(see update #1 above) have a better measurement of how large this sphere is. Its radius is
approximately 2x10
13
m, so its spherical boundary must have a collecting surface area of
something greater than 5x10
27
square meters.
Such a surface would then collect a current of interstellar electrons amounting to
approximately 1.6x10
-7
Amp per square meter x 5x10
27
square meters =8x10
20
A. (Some 20,000
times the number needed!). Of course this calculation involves many estimated quantities, but
they are the best estimates available to science today (Spring 2012).
This calculation makes it clear that it is not reasonable to conclude that there are not enough
electrons entering the Suns environment to power it. In fact, in light of the new NASA data, it is
now possible to reduce our estimate of the Suns voltage to 10
10
/16,000 =0.5 million volts which,
relatively speaking, is not extremely large. There are commercial transmission lines here on Earth
using higher voltages.
vi


NASAs observation (#3 above) that the direction of the solar wind actually reverses (begins
to flow sunward) out near the heliopause is further confirmation that the analogy between the
behavior of the Suns surrounding plasma and what is observed in laboratory gas (plasma)
discharge tubes is a valid one. Near the cathode of such a tube, a layer of electrons is often
observed. Such a layer creates a reversal in the direction of the electric field (force per unit
charge) applied to the positive charge carriers (+ions in the solar wind). The heliopause is a
virtual cathode for the Suns plasma discharge.
A standard (hackneyed) criticism from skeptics of J uergens Electric Star hypothesis has
always been, where are all the necessary incoming relativistic electrons? First of all, the
incoming electrons do not have to be (will not be) relativistic. Secondly, it appears NASA is in
the process of finding them. Perhaps Electrical Universe theoreticians should issue a press release
entitled Dark electrons found by NASA. For this reason this article carries that alternate title.
The Electric Sun hypothesis seems to be increasingly vindicated with each new bit of data
NASA releases.

D. E. Scott

i
From Appendix C of The Electric Sky, Scott, D.E., Mikamar 2006.
ii
Available: http://www.kronos-press.com/juergens/k0801-electric-i.htm
and http://www.kronos-press.com/juergens/k0802-electric-ii.htm
or http://www.kronos-press.com/juergens/1982-electric-solar-energy-juergens.pdf
iii
Available: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-372
iv
R.C. Wilson, J ournal of Geophysical Research, 83,4003-4007 1978.
v
Peratt, A. Physics of the Plasma Universe, Springer-Verlag, 1992.
vi
Highest transmission voltage (AC): 1.15 MV on Powerline Ekibastuz-Kokshetau (Kazakhstan)
See: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091022010949AAIY7dZ
News Release 10/9/2012
Voyager I Sees Solar Wind Blocked

On Oct. 9, 2012, the following report was published regarding the most recent data
received from the Voyager I space probe. I have added emphasis where it is important.
This new data is completely consistent with (and explained by) the Electric Sun / plasma
model.

Space.com
Did NASA's Voyager 1 Spacecraft Just Exit the
Solar System?
Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Date: 09 October 2012 Time: 09:57 AM ET

It will be another giant leap for mankind when NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft becomes the first manmade
object to venture past the solar system's edge and into the uncharted territory of interstellar space. But did
this giant leap already occur?
New data from the spacecraft indicate that the historic moment of its exit from the solar system might have
come and gone two months ago. Scientists are crunching one more set of numbers to find out for sure.
Voyager 1, which left Earth on Sept. 5, 1977, has since sped to a distance of 11.3 billion miles (18.2 billion
kilometers) from the sun, making it the farthest afield of any manmade object. (It has 2 billion miles on its
twin, Voyager 2, which took a longer route through the solar system.) Still phoning home (via radio
transmissions) after 35 years, the Voyagers are the longest operating spacecraft in history.
For two years now, data beamed back to Earth by Voyager 1 has hinted at its close approach to the edge of
the solar system, a pressure boundary called the heliopause. At this boundary, the bubble of electrically
charged particles blowing outward from the sun (called the heliosphere) exactly counterbalances the inward
pressure of the gas and dust from interstellar space, causing equilibrium between the two. But scientists
have had trouble figuring out what, exactly, happens at or near this boundary making it hard to tell
whether Voyager has crossed it.
In 2010, Voyager passed the point where the solar wind, a stream of charged particles flowing outward from
the sun, seemed to reach the end of its leash. The probe's detectors indicated that the wind had
suddenly died down, and all the surrounding solar particles were at a standstill.
This "stagnation region" came as a surprise. Scientists had expected to see the solar wind veer sideways
when it met the heliopause, like water hitting a wall, rather than screech to a halt. As Voyager scientists
explained in a paper published last month in Nature, the perplexing collapse of the solar wind at the edge of
the heliosphere left them without a working model for the outer solar system.
"There is no well-established criteria of what constitutes exit from the heliosphere," Stamatios Krimigis, a
space scientist at J ohns Hopkins University and NASA principal investigator in charge of the Voyager
spacecraft's Low-Energy Charged Particle instrument, told Life's Little Mysteries. " All theoretical models
have been found wanting."
However, Ed Roelof, also a space scientist at J ohns Hopkins who works with Voyager 1 data, said that in
any model of the heliopause, an object exiting through it should experience three changes: a sharp rise in
the number of collisions with cosmic rays (high-energy particles from space), a dramatic drop in the number
of collisions with charged particles from the sun, and a change in the direction of the surrounding magnetic
field.
Based on two of those criteria, Voyager 1 looks as if it passed through the heliopause at the end of the
summer. Since May, the spacecraft has experienced a steady rise in the number of collisions with particles
whose energies are greater than 70 Mega-electron-volts, indicating they are probably cosmic rays
emanating from supernova explosions far beyond the solar system. The level of these cosmic ray collisions
jumped significantly in late August.
As first reported by Houston Chronicle science blogger Eric Berger, that jump coincided with another change
in late August: The spacecraft also experienced a dramatic drop in the number of collisions with low-energy
particles, which probably originated from the sun. [See graph]


Rate at which Voyager 1 is being bombarded by particles such as protons.
CREDIT: NASA
View full size image
In short, in late August, cosmic ray collisions sharply rose, and solar particle collisions sharply fell: two
indicators of a transition through the heliopause.
"Most scientists involved with Voyager 1 would agree that [these two criteria] have been sufficiently
satisfied," said Ed Roelof, also a space scientist at J ohns Hopkins who works with Voyager 1 data.
2
To officially declare Voyager's crossing, the scientists need to check if the third condition holds. "Point 3 (the
change in magnetic field direction to that of the interstellar field beyond the influence of the sun) is critical
because, even though there is debate among astrophysicists as to what direction the field will lie in, it seems
unlikely that it is the direction that we have been seeing at Voyager 1 throughout the most recent years,"
Roelof wrote in an email.
"That is why we are all awaiting the analysis of the most recent magnetic field measurements from Voyager
1. We will be looking for the expected change to a new and steady direction. That would drop the third
independent piece of evidence into place if indeed that's what will be seen," he said.
The scientists could not say when the magnetic field analysis would be finished. But when it is and if it
also indicates that the field's direction recently underwent a change the world will know. "Once we have a
consensus within the team we will inform NASA for a proper announcement," Krimigis said.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
In my Primer on Gas Discharges, there was a sketch of the typical structures often
observed in a laboratory plasma. That diagram is repeated below for reference.
Aston
Dark
Space
Negative
Glow
Faraday
Dark
Space
Cathode
Glow
Cathode
Dark
Space
Positive
Column
Anode
Glow
Anode
Dark
Space
Anode + Cathode -
Either
+or -
+
-
C
h
a
r
g
e

D
e
n
s
i
t
y
(
C
o
u
l

/

m
3
)
If ADS is +
If ADS is -
E
-
F
i
e
l
d

(
V
/
m
)
V
Anode
voltage
or

Figure 1. Classic structure of a plasma discharge in a laboratory setting.
3

The various structures near the cathode (such as the cathode dark space and the cathode
glow) are there primarily because +ions cannot enter the cathode. Only electrons move in
the wires of the external circuit. In space there is no metal cathode just a virtual cathode
consisting perhaps of a simple shell (layer) of electrons.
It is instructive to restate the mathematical relationships among the three plots in figure 1.
We assume the four charge density layers shown in the first plot are there because they
can be measured in the laboratory.

The second plot, the electric E-field, is the integral with respect to distance of the charge
density plot. This is a direct application of Maxwells equation that states the divergence
of D or E equals the charge density, or, Div E = (r)/. So if we come along from the
left, accumulating the area under the charge density curve, that accumulation (integral) is
as shown in the E-field plot. The E-field is, of course, the force experienced by a unit
+charge when it is in a region of varying electrical potential energy, V(r).

The electric field is the negative of the slope of the electric potential energy plot.

dr
dV
E (1)
So, we can plot V(r) by taking the integral of the E(r) plot and then inverting the result.
The reader should verify these relationships in figure 1.

When we consider the plasma structure that exists around the Sun, we note that the
cathodeeffects shown in figure 1 are not there. An equivalent set of plots is shown
below:

Figure 2. A similar set of plots
to figure 1 with all cathode
phenomena replaced by a
single, simple, layer of negative
charges (electrons) as would
occur near a cathode.

Notice that, near the anode,
nothing has changed except
that various structures
within the plasma are now
named properly, i.e., the
anode glow is the
photosphere, and the
positive column is the
Suns corona. At a distance
of 18 billion km a single
negative charge layer
consisting of electrons is
postulated to exist. If that
layer does indeed exist,
4
5
o
ld,
ions.
then the two lower plots show (by the same mathematical procedure as was used t
derive the corresponding plots in figure 1) an increasingly strong negative electric fie
and a voltage barrier for +

The previously (closer to the Sun) outward flow of solar wind +H ions will encounter this
barrier and be stopped in their tracks. From the latest report this is exactly what has been
observed.

Note that the Space.com report included at the top of this report states that, This
stagnation region came as a surprise. And also, the perplexing collapse of the solar
wind at the edge of the heliosphere left them without a working model for the outer
solar system.

This result is not at all surprising to plasma cosmologists and EU investigators. It is a
direct, simple, application of the laboratory observations that have been made in electrical
plasma laboratories for over 100 years.

D. E. Scott

Albuquerque, NM 2012 PROCEEDINGS of the NPA 1
An Electric Universe View of
Stellar and Galactic Formation
Donald E. Scott, Ph.D.


The formation of stars and galaxies has long been assumed by electrical theorists to result from pinch ef-
fects in cosmic electric (Birkeland) currents. The exact details of these pinches and the mechanisms involved
have remained obscure even though various laboratory experiments have been done in the past. These details
are now clarified by relating the mechanisms of Marklund convection and the double plasma focus experiments
of W. Bostick. The observed ubiquitous hour-glass shapes of planetary nebulae are shown to be fundamental
to this process. The major difference between the formation of stars and of galaxies is simply a matter of scale
the processes are essentially identical.

1. Introduction
Attempts to describe the formation of stars and galaxies by
processes that utilize only the gravitational force have been and
continue to be elusive. No successful simulation of galaxy or stel-
lar formation using only the purely gravitational accretion disk
mechanism has ever been accomplished.
[1]
Inclusion of plasma
into simulations has yielded somewhat better results.
The purpose of this paper is to apply to the known properties
of cosmic Birkeland currents, the mechanism called the Dual
Plasma Focus Device, the process called Marklund convection,
and the recent observations of planetary nebulae.
2. Cosmic (Birkeland) Currents
In the Electric Universe (EU) model, twisting streams of elec-
trons and ions form filaments that span vast regions of space.
Where pairs of these spaghetti-like structures interact, the parti-
cles gain energy and, at narrow pinch regions (called z-pinches),
produce the entire range of galaxy types as well as the full spec-
trum of cosmic electromagnetic radiation.
[2]

3. Plasma Focus Device
On December 12, 1956, the front page of the New York Times
announced
[3]
: "Physicist 'Creates' Universe in a Test Tube; Atom
Gun Produces Galaxies and Gives Clues to Creation". Dr. Win-
ston Bostick had used a pair of plasma focus devices to create
tiny galaxy shaped plasmoids. The device is shown below.

Figure 1. Plasma focus device
A capacitor bank is discharged through two coaxial cylindri-
cal electrodes forming a plasma current sheath between the inner
and outer electrodes. The annular shaped discharge moves to-
ward the open end of the device where the inner radius of the
discharge rounds the end of the inner electrode and forms a co-
lumnar pinch or focus on-axis. The outer surface of the dis-
charge moves beyond the end of the device and takes on a para-
bolic shape (not unlike an opened umbrella). Not shown in the
figure is a jet of plasma containing protons, electrons, and neu-
trons that extends out along the axis. This jet forms when the
central electrode is positive with respect to the outer cylinder.

Figure 2. Evolution of the pinch.
Bostick conducted an experiment (1956-1957) wherein two
plasma focus devices were fired at each other across a magnetic
field.
The shapes of the resulting plasmoids are suggestive of em-
bryonic galaxies. A. Peratt later reproduced the shapes seen here
via particle in cell (PIC) simulations on super-computers.

Figure 3. W. Bostick and his plasmoids generated via dual
plasma focus guns.
4. Marklund Convection
When a pinch in a Birkeland current occurs in cosmic space
the magnetic flux tubes are not directly observable themselves,
Scott: An EU View of Stellar and Galactic Formation Vol. 9 2
but the associated plasma filaments can often be observed by the
radiation they emit.
[4]
When several different chemical elements are contained with-
in such a region of compression, they do not mix homogeneous-
ly. Rather, they tend to distribute themselves radially according
to their ionization potentials. This effect was studied by G.T.
Marklund
[5]
and is now called Marklund convection.
While discussing Marklund convection, Peratt
[6]
also says,
The most abundant elements of cosmical plasma can be divided
into groups of roughly equal ionization potentials as follows: He
(24eV); H, O, N (13eV); C, S (11eV); and Fe, Si, Mg (8eV). These
elements can be expected to form hollow cylinders whose radii
increase with ionization potential. Helium will make up the most
widely distributed outer layer; hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen
should form the middle layers, while iron, silicon, and magnesi-
um will make up the inner layers. Interlap between the layers can
be expected and, for the case of galaxies, the metal-to-hydrogen
ratio should be maximum near the center and decrease outward-
ly. Mirabel and Morras
[7]
(1984) have detected the inflow of
neutral hydrogen toward our own galaxy.
Any time charges are accelerated (as they are in the case of a
Birkeland current) synchrotron electro-magnetic radiation at
various frequencies occurs typically from microwaves through
hard x-rays.

Figure 4. Elements form into concentric cylinders in a
Birkeland current. Radii are proportional to their ionization
voltage.
Thus, a Birkeland current performs a scavenging effect, gath-
ering and concentrating whatever (neutral or ionized) elements it
passes near. The result is analogous to a cosmic coaxial cable
transmission line.

5. Magnetic Pinch
When electric current passes axially along a cylindrical con-
ductor, a magnetic field is created that surrounds the conductor
and tends to crush the cylinder. This effect is called the magnetic
pinch and is commonly seen in the laboratory.
If the conductor is a multi-layered collection of concentric cyl-
inders, this crushing effect can produce a discharge between two
or more layers of the structure.


Figure 5. Magnetic pinch causes reduced spacing between
inner and outer conductors thus initiating an annular plas-
ma discharge.
The effect is similar to two oppositely directed plasma focus
devices. Two oppositely directed axial jets of ions, electrons and
neutrons can be generated. The result is as shown in figure 6.


Figure 6. Dual opposed plasma focus devices.
A typical planetary nebula is shown in figure 7. Notice the
dual concentric cylinders that form the Birkeland current. Dual
jets extend axially in both directions from the pinch. These flows
each produce at least two visible double layers. The parabolic
shapes of the plasma discharges are apparent.


Figure 7. A typically observed planetary nebula.
6. Other Examples
There are literally dozens of objects that exhibit this shape.
Figure 8. Planetary nebula
MyCn 18.
Many instances have re-
cently been reported of stars
exhibiting surrounding rings.
The bright star Fomalhaut has
now been discovered to have
one. Another classic double
hourglass structure is visible in
images of the object called the
Southern Crab Nebula. It is a
well-known property of plas-
ma that it can operate in two
visible modes (arc and glow) and one invisible mode (dark

Albuquerque, NM 2012 PROCEEDINGS of the NPA 3
mode). So in some objects all of the structure described above
presents itself. In others parts of the plasma composition are in
dark mode and so are not visible. For example in the object
shown in figure 9, the outer, larger extent of the plasma is very
diffuse the electric current density being insufficient to illumi-
nate it as well as the inner regions shown in the lower right of
that figure.

Figure 9. Planetary nebula He2-104.
7. Conclusion
The dual hourglass shape that appears to be almost ubiqui-
tous in the case of planetary nebulae was predicted by Hannes
Alfvn in both his stellar and galaxy models. The fact that there is
now a combination of well-understood electro-magnetic plasma
mechanisms that can densely compress matter in the cosmos in
order to create a star or a galaxy, exposes the extent of the failure
of standard explanations. For example, the official Hubble site
which produced the image of MyCn 18 seen above in figure 8
offers the following as an explanation:

The results are of great interest because they shed new light on the
poorly understood ejection of stellar matter which accompanies the
slow death of Sun-like stars. In previous ground-based images,
MyCn18 appears to be a pair of large outer rings with a smaller cen-
tral one, but the fine details cannot be seen.
According to one theory for the formation of planetary nebulae, the
hourglass shape is produced by the expansion of a fast stellar wind
within a slowly expanding cloud which is more dense near its equator
than near its poles. What appears as a bright elliptical ring in the cen-
ter, and at first sight might be mistaken for an equatorially dense re-
gion, is seen on closer inspection to be a potato shaped structure with
a symmetry axis dramatically different from that of the larger hour-
glass. The hot star which has been thought to eject and illuminate the
nebula, and therefore expected to lie at its center of symmetry, is
clearly off center. Hence MyCn18, as revealed by Hubble, does not
fulfill some crucial theoretical expectations.
It is suggested that the reader compare this explanation
with the process of formation presented in this paper. It is sug-
gested that the z-pinch (plasma focus) mechanism may be of
primary importance in the formation of all stars and galaxies.


References
[.1.] S. A. Balbus and J. F. Hawley, A Powerful Local Shear Instability in Weakly Magnet-
ized Disks 1991, ApJ 376, 214)
[.2.] A. L. Peratt, Plasma Cosmology, Feb. 1992, Sky & Telescope (pp. 136-140)
[.3.] See: www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2008/arch08/080124bostick.htm
[.4.] A. L. Peratt, Physics of the Plasma Universe, 1992, Springer Verlag, (pp. 165-166)
[.5.] G.T. Marklund, Plasma Convection in Force-Free Mgnetic Fields as a Mechanism for
chemical Separation in Cosmical Plasmas, Nature, 277 370 (1979).
[.6.] A. L. Peratt, Op. cit. pp 167-168.
[.7.] Mirabel and Morris,. Evidence for High Velocity Inflow of Neutral Hydrogen Toward
the Galaxy, Astrophysics J. 279 86 (1984).