SGER: Effects of Extremely High Voltage on Properties of Matter

埃尔斯特在电力系统和物理学中，使用极高的电压（数百万伏）已经变得越来越普遍。例如，能源部已经资助了几项大型努力来实施设计为在1000万伏下操作的高压直流（HVDC）系统。 此类系统的设计和分析通常假设环境电压（A0场）不会影响功率半导体或其他系统的行为。它假设高电压的影响完全基于芯片上的电压差，而不是环境电压水平。然而，与量子理论的玻姆-阿哈罗诺夫悖论和量子场论中传播项的重整化有关的初步理论计算表明，也可能有直接影响，特别是当环境电压达到10-200百万伏直流电时。其中一些影响可能是危险的，而另一些可能提供积极的技术机会，但要知道这是否属实还为时过早。该探索性项目的目标是：（1）基于替代模型进行更完整的理论计算，以分析这些效应的性质;（2）评估未来实验的选项，以测试竞争模型并为更完整的分析打开大门。

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.