Van Allen belts (split from sources of e-e+ field in QFT)

[sunshaker]

The electron field doesn't have a source like the photon (electromagnetic) field does because electron number is conserved (which is why charge is conserved!) while photon number isn't, as a consequence of U(1) symmetry. If you create an electron then you must destroy one somewhere else, and vice versa. You can create as many photons as you want.

 

Something semi-related is that if you get a large number of photons together in coherent states, you get a macroscopic classical electromagnetic field. There's no macroscopic classical version of the electron field because electrons obey the Pauli exclusion principle, which means that you can't get a large collection of electrons in coherent states.

I know there are large collections of electrons in the Van Allen belts 2 to 3 rings, Are these in a coherent state within these magnetic fields? Or is this just about plasma the waves?

http://www.spacenewsfeed.co.uk/index.php/news/218-van-allen-probes-shed-light-on-decades-old-mystery

 

 

From within the belts, scientists hypothesize that the electrons are undergoing strong local acceleration from very low frequency plasma waves. Controversies also exist as to the very nature of the wave acceleration: Is it stochastic – that is, a linear and diffusive process – or is it non-linear and coherent?

[swansont]

!

Moderator Note

 

Split from http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/85920-sources-of-electron-positron-field-in-qft/

 

Asking new questions in the middle of a discussion, especially when not directed at the OP, is generally a hijack.

 

Starting a new thread really isn't that hard.

 

Don't respond to this modnote in the thread.

 

[elfmotat]

No, they aren't in a coherent state. Coherent means a collection of particles in the same state, which the Pauli exclusion principle explicitly forbids.

[sunshaker]

I was just having a read on the Van Allen belts, I seen this about dissolving the inner belts, But from what I can gather we still do not fully understand these belts,

I have read these belts add protection against solar winds, And a weakening of these belts could harm electronics and organisms, and influence the Earths magnetic fields.

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt#cite_note-34

 

Proposed removal[edit]

The belts are a hazard for artificial satellites and are dangerous for human beings, and are difficult and expensive to shield against.

High Voltage Orbiting Long Tether, or HiVOLT, is a concept proposed by Russian physicist V.V. Danilov and further refined by Robert P. Hoyt and Robert L. Forward for draining and removing the radiation fields of the Van Allen radiation belts^[32] that surround the Earth.^[33] A proposed configuration consists of a system of five 100 km long conducting tethers deployed from satellites, and charged to a large voltage. This would cause charged particles that encounter the tethers to have their pitch angle changed, thus over time dissolving the inner belts. Hoyt and Forward's company, Tethers Unlimited, performed a preliminary analysis simulation, and produced a chart depicting a theoretical radiation flux reduction,^[34] to less than 1% of current levels within two months for the inner belts that threaten LEO objects.^[35]

With the need for more and more satellites and cost of shielding I can see this becoming a reality.

 

Personally I believe we should leave well alone, Most things are normally there for a good reason, Sometimes reasons we do not yet understand.

It brings to my mind how we chopped down trees without a thought, Before we understood their place, and how important they are to our very existence.

 

But my question is who or what body would have the authority to dissolve/drain these belts?