It was put under Official Secrecy after its operation had been verified by Government scientists. It was a device which involved magnets and it operated to generate electricity without any source of input power other than the space energy of Nature's quantum underworld. It was denied patent protection by the German Patent Office, as being a perpetual motion device. It was ignored and the records relating to it were buried in hidden archives. I surmise that that was because the scientists who had to pass judgement on what should be done simply could not understand the physical reason why the invention actually worked.
I believe I know the secret of its operation and I will in this Lecture present a brief outline of that reason before quoting the facts of the case from the now-declassified Government report, which was entitled: 'THE INVENTION OF HANS COLER, RELATING TO AN ALLEGED NEW SOURCE OF POWER'.
My approach to the problem takes account of the fact that Hans Coler did not himself know why his invention worked, but he could replicate its operation and instructed others who were able to build working devices. The professors who tested such devices did ascertain that the magnetic field inducing the output power had frequencies in the region of 180 Khz and the evidence pointed to the source of that power being within the magnets. Yet the magnets did not lose any of their strength. The report, as will be seen from the sections to be quoted, gives one assurance that this is no fraud but is, rather, a genuine technological phenomenon, one we cannot turn away from. It must be understood as it may be the energy technology which will provide us with our power in the centuries ahead.
It is a fact of physics that the onset of ferromagnetism as iron cools through a critical temperature (the Curie temperature) involves a release of heat over and above that associated with the normal cooling process. It is as if Nature says to the iron:
"When you cool below that temperature, you may find it more relaxing to become internally magnetized by adopting a state of lower energy potential. You will find you can shed even more heat energy by adopting that state and I promise that I shall keep active in regulating your state of energy potential so long as your temperature remains below that Curie threshold. However, should you let yourself get too hot then you will lose your magnetism and I shall take my energy back from you as you cross that threshold. My message, therefore, is that the onset of the magnetic state occurs because I, Mother Nature, let you have some of my energy, which I know you will dissipate as heat, but, conversely, should you contrive to lose your state of magnetism, then you will pay the price and I will take that energy back from you. You will then be obliged to find a way of sucking that energy from the material environment around you."
Now, physicists do not express themselves in such a style. They merely describe the process as one involving a specific heat anomaly and describe their application of it as 'adiabatic demagnetization'. However, in the latter pursuit they do not work with iron, but rather with certain paramagnetic salts. Yet it is what is happening in iron that is of major interest.
You see, it so happens that inside each iron crystal at normal ambient temperature there is an ongoing state of transition as the direction of magnetic polarization switches between the 001, 010 and 001 directions in the cubic structure. These are all easy directions of magnetization, because, in an x, y, z coordinate system x, y and z represent these directions and iron finds its optimum energy potential by letting its magnetism lie along a direction parallel with a crystal cube edge. The 011, 101, 111, 110 directions are diagonal directions and it needs a strong magnetic field to force iron to direct its polarization towards such non-preferred directions. Concerning that ongoing state of transition, suppose an iron crystal is polarized in the 001 direction, does this mean that the electron 'spins' or whatever it is that accounts for the magnetic condition, all point in the 001 direction all the time? It need not, because logic tells us that symmetry plays a role and the instantaneous state of polarization in a crystal could well lie on the x, y and z axes for equal periods of time in each cycle of transition. Using plus and minus signs to represent direction along a given axis, the sequence: +001, -010, +100, +001, +010 and -100, would add up to a net effect in the 001 direction.
In case you think this is all mere speculation, I invite you to explain why the polarization of iron is 2.221 units of the Bohr magneton per atom. The Bohr magneton is the magnetic moment developed by an electron having one unit of angular momentum in quantum theory. Two electrons per atom are involved in setting up the magnetism and each has two Bohr units of angular momentum. This is where I bring in the 'fudge factor' of 2 that Nobel Laureate Paul Dirac used in his theory of electrin 'spin', but which I see in my theory of magnetic induction as an orbital charge motion in the aether by which that medium reacts to half-cancel any applied magnetic field.
The field set up by each atom is 2x2x2 units in strength, but it spends only one third of the time directed along the +001 direction and so has an average value of 8/3 units. The energy of a reaction in the magnetic field is the same whatever the direction of magnetization and it is determined by that average. It acts as a reaction to halve the instantaneous value of the field and so its reaction strength is (8/3)/2 units, but it spends only one-third of the time reacting to the polarization along the 001 axis. Therefore, its average effect as a reaction is (8/3)/6 units, which offsets the primary action of 8/3 units. Work that out and you obtain 2.222 units as the overall polarization in Bohr magnetons per atom. This compares with the 2.221 observed and suggests that there is a slight delay in the process of losing magnetism in one direction and developing it in another direction, as the crystal experiences its cyclic magnetic transitions.
This was how I interpreted that 2.221 factor some 20 years ago, long before I had heard about Hans Coler. I never thought that there would be any way of proving this 'time-sharing' hypothesis as applied to the three preferred axes of magnetization of an iron crystal.
I could even estimate the switching time, because I knew there had to be such a phenomenon for other reasons, dating 20 years back before I found the explanation of that 2.221 factor. It concerned the stress conditions which go with the ferromagnetic state. Copper, for example, is not ferromagnetic because, if it were, the mechanical stresses set up by its magnetic state would rupture it. Iron, nickel and cobalt each have a high tensile strength and a high modulus of elasticity. That reduces the strain energy density that occurs with magnetism and permits the condition of ferromagnetism. Now, if the iron crystal was polarized 100% of the time in the 001 direction, it would be distorted in shape owing to that mechanical strain. The stress set up suddenly in a crystal direction with the onset of a field in that direction is followed by the dynamic adjustment of the crystal form. This does mechanical work and there is a limit on the energy available from that magnetic potential source discussed already. So, after a small displacement, the crystal decides to transfer its magnetic effects to another crystal axis and it starts the process again. This involves ongoing flipping of states between crystal axes.
To estimate the period involved all you need to do is to apply the formula for the speed of propagation of a mechanical displacement in a metal, namely (Y/d)1/2, where Y is Young's modulus of elasticity and d is mass density. These are 2x1012 and 7.86 in c.g.s units for iron. Take the latter quantity to be, in round figures, simply 8, so that that speed becomes 500,000 cm/s.
Now note that the magnets used in the Coler tests as shown in the data in the Report were just over 10 cm in length (probably a nominal length of 4 inches). However, if such a magnet is deemed to expand as the polarization directions of all its domains flip into the longitudinal direction in harmony, then the expansion involves a stress wave which on average travels through only 2.5 cm. This is because the centre of the magnet does not move, whereas the extremities are at 5 cm from the centre. Note that this wave is the physical displacement of a very small fraction of the metal, sufficient to give a small contraction of the gap width separating the end poles of adjacent magnets in the magnet loop of the Coler device. By this I am suggesting that it takes a period of the order of 2.5 cm divided by 500,000 cm/s before the flip of the domain polarization takes effect in adjusting to the change. The result is that the magnetic flux linking the winding around the magnet will build up from a low value to a maximum value in 5 microseconds. Then, if the current in that winding is carried by a resonant circuit optimized to that 5 microsecond rise time, we can expect the oscillation to match that rise time. Almost immediately, once that expanded state is reached, the domains will relax to normalize the stress condition and the polarization will flip to the other modes. Now, laterally, the distances of stress wave travel in the magnet are small in relation to the length of the magnet and this could mean that the reset period is very short. Thus the electrical oscillation in the winding could correspond to a kind of sawtooth stress waveform in the main flux direction linking the windings on the magnet. If that 5 microseconds were then to correspond to a 6 microsecond period, that would imply oscillations at 167 kHz.
Consider what this means. It suggests that Coler may, without knowing it, have discovered a way of interfering with the natural rhythmic domain flipping process which I am sure occurs in a ferromagnet. It tells us to expect that, though it may pass unnoticed, the polarization of each individual magnetic domain in an iron crystal is changing to and from the preferred direction in each crystal at a frequency in the 167 kHz region. Then remember that those professors who tested the Coler device measured a 180 kHz frequency for the power it was delivering. Is this a mere coincidence? I think not! Go further with this reasoning and take note that the mean magnetic polarization in that preferred direction could be much stronger, by a factor of nearly 3, if that sawtooth waveform action really is present. Yes, this is somewhat speculative, but it is going to need something new and challenging in the physics of ferromagnetism if we are to understand why that Coler device works. At least, if one has a theory that supports some aspect of what is observed, then one has then a guide as to which direction to follow in one's onward research.
Hans Coler did not apply any external source of power to his magnets. He set up the apparatus and its circuit, adjusted the spacing between the magnets he had arranged in a ring and waited. Nature then began its work as those polarization directions flipped statistically in a near random way, but Coler had devised a circuit, even though he did not know it, that helped those random flips to find harmony in their actions.
His circuit meant that if an overall magnetic flux change did occur through the magnets then it would cause a pulsating current to flow through each magnet. Now consider what that means. It says that he had set up in each magnet a circumferential field pulsation around the central axis of the magnet. It says that when that circumferential field was strongest it would be energetically favourable for the flipping of the magnetic transitions in those crystal domains to be in a direction orthogonal with respect to the main polarization direction of the magnet. It says, therefore, that if the frequency of that pulsation happens to be in tune with the natural frequency of that flip action, then all of the domains in that magnet will try to get in step in their rhythm. In short, there will be a cyclic flux change right around the ring of magnets and linking those coils which Coler had wrapped around the magnets. Without that synchrony of action the random activity would simply give a steady overall magnetic flux around the inductive loop and so there would be no power output.
On this basis the energy generated by the Coler device must come from whatever is powering the cyclic transitions in each of those magnetic domains. Now, standard physical theory has not developed far enough, as yet, to take this cyclic flipping action of magnetic domains on board. Physicists do not really understand the mechanism of ferromagnetism or that mechanical stress activity that is inescapable in that ferromagnetic condition. However, be that as it may, the activity that is occurring is one in which at each critical stress level when the strain energy and ferromagnetic condition get out of balance, the ferromagnetism collapses momentarily. This cools the iron locally, but the ferromagnetic state then develops in an orthogonal direction and an equal amount of heating occurs. This is an ongoing cycle of events. As the ferromagnetism is reasserted along the axis through the body of the magnets in the Coler situation then the harmony of the action means a flux change linking the main winding on the device. This takes energy out as Nature is doing its work to build up that magnetic polarization. In other words, the cyclic demand on Nature to keep reasserting the ferromagnetic direction along the axis of the windings around those magnets, draws energy from the aether at that near-to-180 kHz frequency.
One must, of course, wonder about the implications of this for magnetic skin effects which restrict changing flux penetration according to our conventional theories of electromagnetism, but I take account here of the effective unity permeability one experiences for flux changes in permanent magnets. That would mean that induced currents would have little effect in restraining changes in magnetic flux such as occur in soft iron cores. Indeed, I can only be guided by the facts of the situation and I tend to see what is asserted in the Hans Coler Report as fact. I make an exception with regard to the commentary about an experiment described by reference to a Figure 4 on the last page of the Coler Report, but will comment on that later in these Web pages when I report on certain experiments of my own. Meanwhile, however, I believe I have said enough to set the stage for a review of the Coler Report and I hope that this introduction will encourage whoever reads this, and has the necessary influence, to urge forward the research needed to take Coler's work through a development phase leading to its commercial exploitation.
I should just mention here that one cannot examine the surface of a piece of magnetized iron, as by using an electron microscope, and expect to see an image blurred by such vibrations. The reason is that the surface layers of atoms extending several Angstrom below the surface of a ferromagnetic body are not polarized. However, the depth of the non-polarized region is a function of crystal orientation adjacent the surface. Data on this are presented in a book by R. F. Soohoo entitled 'Magnetic Thin Films', published in 1965 by Harper and Row (see pp. 90-91). That book also includes an interesting comment at the top of p. 238. Observation of some degree of surface anisotropy in the magnetic fields reveals certain 'peaks' in the energy coefficients indicated by the measurements. There was a curious statement which reads:
"Assuming a lattice constant is equal to 3 Angstrom and 4(pi)M equal to 104 gauss, we find a value of Hs equal to about 8x(10)4. It is inconceivable that a change of 4(pi)M of this magnitude could even occur in a Permalloy film whose normal 4(pi)M is equal to 104 gauss. Thus it appears that whereas a lower magnetization surface layer is capable of explaining the disappearance of the spin-wave modes at a given field orientation, it can not in general account for the high intensity of the peaks."
If you have understood what is said above about the 8/3 factor and seen that 8 Bohr magnetons is the primary polarization which flips around to give a mean of 8/3 diluted slightly by reaction to become 2.222, then you may see a glimmer of a connection here with what has just been quoted. That 2.222 Bohr magnetons per atom corresponds to a saturation polarization of 2.2x(10)4 gauss. 8 Bohr magnetons per atom would give that 8x(10)4 gauss value. Note that the saturation polarization of iron at 0 Kelvin is slightly below the value at room temperature. The 2.221 Bohr magneton figure quoted above is observed at zero Kelvin.
Returning now to the Hans Coler theme, reproduction of the full text of the Official Report on the Hans Coler invention is not my intention. Copies of the Report can no doubt be procured from the appropriate sources. I do not have the relevant data on that as I write this text, but I will amend this Web page section as soon as I can provide such information.
What follows is a sequence of selected excerpts from the Report and I shall not offer further comment on it in this Lecture. You must draw your own conclusions as you proceed, though I hope you will keep in mind what I have said above. However, I believe I will have much more to say on the subject in the onward development of these Web pages.