The Quest for Ultimate Electromagnetics using Spatial Transformations (QUEST)

从马可尼通过亨利爵士的雷达进行的第一次跨大西洋无线传输到现代蜂窝通信，世纪应用电磁学的迅速发展改变了我们的世界。现在，在21世纪世纪，一个新的革命，利用电磁（EM）正在出现;一个结合两个最新的发展：空间变换和设计和制造的新型电磁材料。空间变换（ST）的思想是为材料的空间排列的分布提供全新的解决方案，以便能够以新的方式操纵EM辐射的发射，传播和吸收。这远远超出了用透镜和镜子形式的传统材料所能实现的，既需要传统材料，也需要具有自然界中不存在的性质的材料（即，超材料）。ST是令人兴奋的想法，如隐形斗篷和光学错觉的核心。为了大量制造所需的特殊材料，将需要现代制造技术，包括使用纳米复合材料和梯度折射率涂层。材料调色板可以通过包括活性超材料和超导电介质复合材料而进一步拓宽。作为可以设想的应用类型的示例，存在对任何地方和任何时间的无线通信的日益增长的需求。然而，许多环境，如办公室和拥挤的购物中心包含障碍物和散射体，导致信号“混淆”。信号要么到达理想情况下不应该到达的地方，要么更糟的是，在需要的地方无法访问。目前的方法试图通过对接收信号进行额外的信号处理来处理这些问题，但这只能被视为临时解决方案。更有弹性的解决方案将是修改本地EM环境，以便通过例如使某些障碍物或散射体“不可见”来确保在任何给定位置处的质量接收。基于ST概念的材料和器件提供了令人兴奋的扭曲电磁空间的前景，以克服由于障碍物和散射体的问题。这些应用程序是QUEST项目的核心。我们将与医疗保健、安全、能源和数字经济领域的国防、航空航天和通信利益相关者合作，构建和展示多个设备。QUEST解决方案将使英国在这一令人兴奋的领域处于领先地位，推动概念界限，同时探索设计和可制造性的实际问题。该计划资助将汇集一批新的英国领先的实验学家和理论家，材料科学和电子工程，共同致力于空间转换领域出现的令人兴奋的机遇和挑战（ST）和电磁（EM）。然而，潜在的ST方法的潜力比单独的隐身具有更广泛的适用性，可以说在跨越通信，能量传输，传感器和安全的更重要的应用中。然而，理论和概念正在超越实际的示范和测试，导致理论和计算与社会和商业影响的实现不匹配。我们认为，现在是英国理论家、建模师、制造商和工程师共同努力保持英国在这一领域实力的理想时机，重点是将潜在的激进新概念和设备减少到实践和演示中。

From Marconi's first transatlantic wireless transmission through Sir Henry Tizard's radar to modern cellular communications, the rapid advance of applied electromagnetics during the 20th century has changed our world. Now, in the 21st century, a new revolution in exploiting electromagnetism (EM) is emerging; one that brings together two recent developments: spatial transformations and the design and fabrication of novel electromagnetic materials. The idea of spatial transformations (ST) is to provide entirely fresh solutions to the distribution of the spatial arrangement of materials so as to enable new ways to manipulate the emission, propagation and absorption of EM radiation. This goes far beyond what can be accomplished with traditional materials in the form of lenses and mirrors, requiring both conventional materials and also those with properties that do not exist in nature (i.e., metamaterials). ST are at the heart of exciting ideas such as invisibility cloaking and optical illusion. To make the required exotic materials in large quantities, modern fabrication techniques will be needed, including the use of nano-composites and graded-index coatings. The material palette can be further widened by the inclusion of active metamaterials and superconducting dielectric composites. As an example of the type of application one may envisage, there is an increasing demand for wireless communications anywhere and at any time. However, many environments such as offices and crowded shopping centres contain obstacles and scatterers that lead to signals being 'confused'. Signals either reach places they ideally should not, or worse, are not accessible where they are required. Current methods try to deal with these problems by additional signal processing of the received signals, but this can only be seen as an interim fix. A more resilient solution would be to modify the local EM environment so as to ensure quality reception at any given location by, for example, making certain obstacles or scatterers 'invisible'. Materials and devices based upon the concept of STs offer the exciting prospect of warping electromagnetic space so as to overcome problems due to obstacles and scatterers. Such applications are at the heart of the QUEST project. We will build and demonstrate several devices in collaboration with defence, aerospace and communication stakeholders in the areas of healthcare, security, energy and the digital economy. QUEST solutions will place the UK in a leading position in this exciting area, pushing the conceptual boundaries whilst at the same time exploring the practical problems of design and manufacturability.The Programme Grant will bring together a new grouping of leading UK experimentalists and theorists from physics, materials science and electronic engineering to work together on the exciting opportunities and challenges emerging in the area of spatial transformations (STs) and electromagnetism (EM). The potential of the underlying ST approaches however have much wider applicability than cloaking alone, in arguably more important applications that span communications, energy transfer, sensors and security. However, theory and concepts are outstripping practical demonstration and testing, leading to a mismatch in what may be theorised and computed and what can be realised for impact in society and commerce. We contend that the timing is now ideal for UK theorists, modellers, manufacturers and engineers to work together to maintain the UK strength in this field, with a clear focus on the reduction to practice and demonstration of potentially radical new concepts and devices.