SGER: Effects of Extremely High Voltage on Properties of Matter

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0094668ElsterBoth in electric power systems and in physics, the use of extremely high voltages -- many millions of volts -- has become increasingly common. For example, the Department of Energy has funded several large efforts to implement High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems designed to operate at 10 million volts. The design and analysis of such systems normally assumes that the ambient voltage (the A0 field) will not affect the behavior of power semiconductors or other systems. It assumes that the effects of high voltages are entirely based on the difference in voltage across a chip, rather than the ambient level of voltage as such. However, preliminary theoretical calculations, related to the Bohm-Aharonov paradox of quantum theory and the renormalization of propagator terms in quantum field theory, suggest that there may be direct effects as well, particularly when the ambient voltage levels reach 10-200 million volts DC. It is possible that some of these effects may be hazardous while others may provide positive technological opportunities, but it is far too early to know whether this is in fact true. The goals of this exploratory project are: (1) to perform more complete theoretical calculations, based on alternative models, to analyze the nature of these effects; (2) to evaluate options for future experiments, in order to test competing models and open the door to more complete analysis.