--- On Wed, 4/9/14, Phil Pugliese <philpugliese@yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Phil Pugliese <philpugliese@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [TML] Two articles of interest
> To: tml@simplelist.com
> Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014, 11:44 AM
>
>
> --- On Wed, 4/9/14, Phil Pugliese <philpugliese@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
> > From: Phil Pugliese <philpugliese@yahoo.com>
> > Subject: Re: [TML] Two articles of interest
> > To: "The Traveller Mailing List" <tml@travellercentral.com>
> > Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014, 11:01 AM
> >
> > --------------------------------------------
> > On Wed, 4/9/14, shadow@shadowgard.com
> > <shadow@shadowgard.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >  Subject: Re: [TML] Two
> > articles of interest
> >  To: "Ian
> > Wood" <dawnhaven@xtra.co.nz>,
> > "The Traveller Mailing List" <tml@travellercentral.com>
> >  Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014, 3:17 AM
> > 
> >  On 8 Apr 2014 at 18:20,
> >  Ian Wood wrote:
> > 
> >  > the
> >  OTU description of
> > gauss weapons includes "use of
> >
> > electromagnetic fields to accelerate a projectile"
> >  > (or words to that effect) which I
> > assume
> >  is different from a rail gun that
> > just uses electrical
> >  charge.
> >  >
> >  > The rail
> >  gun must have huge energy densities in its
> > rails, causing
> >  bits to ablate away as fiery
> > plasma,
> >  >
> >  where as a
> > gauss gun I guess would have a more distributed
> >  energy and hence perhaps a less visible
> > signature.
> > 
> >  railguns use
> > (if I recall
> >  correctly) JxB forces. They
> > require a
> >  steady *strong* magnetic field
> > (vertical if the
> >  gun is aimed parallel
> >  to the ground). A
> >  high
> > current flows between the rails (from right to
> >  left in the gun is aime horizontally). The
> >  reaction between the
> >
> > magnetic field and the
> >  curreent throws the
> > projectile forward.
> > 
> >  So
> > there will be a signature from the current
> >
> > flow in addition to any
> >  stray plasma as
> > the
> >  projectile exits.
> > 
> >  "gauss" weapons are apparently
> > linear
> >  accelerators (aka "mass
> >  drivers"). As such they'd use a
> > series
> >  of coils with the ones ahead
> >  of the
> >  projectile attracting
> > it iand the ones behind repelling
> >  it.
> > 
> >  This requires *very*
> >  finicky timing or switching. And of high power
> >
> >  levels.
> > 
> >
> > This
> >  generates one *hell* of an EM
> > signature de to transient
> >  fields
> >  and current flows. Be very
> >
> > distinctive as well.
> > 
> >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  I'd just like to add a
  note;

  As I recall, L-5
  Society members did some research at MIT way-back-when w/
  linear accelerators.

  I recall an article in the 'L-5 News' stating that
  while the 'push-pull' technique was initially used
  it was abandoned in favor of 'pull' only as this
  greatly simplified things & didn't really affect
  performance that much.