The Catt Question
The Catt Question is a simple question about the conventional theory of electricity and electric current. In brief, when a switch is turned on and electricity begins to flow in the two wires of an electric circuit, where do the electrons come from on the lower wire? http://www.ivorcatt.co.uk/cattq.htm More precisely, Catt states:
Traditionally. when a TEM step (i.e. logic transition from low to high) ( Figures 3, 4, 5 from Electromagnetism 1)[1] travels through a vacuum from left to right, guided by two conductors (the signal line and the 0v line), there are four factors which make up the wave;
- electric current in the conductors i
- magnetic field, or flux, surrounding the conductors B
- electric charge on the surface of the conductors +q , -q
- electric field, or flux, in the vacuum terminating on the charge (Figure 2), D
The key to grasping the question is to concentrate on the electric charge -q on the bottom conductor. The step advances one foot per nanosecond. Extra negative charge appears on the surface of the bottom conductor to terminate the new lines (tubes) of electric flux D (figure 2) which appear between the top (signal) conductor and the bottom conductor.
Since 1982 the question has been: Where does this new charge come from?[2]
There are two main camps among responding conventional physicists and engineers, which Catt calls the “Southerners” and the “Westerners”. There is also some degree of crossover and indeterminacy from certain responders. Although at least one IEEE journal editor has called this a racist terminology, the terms come from equating the directions in the reference diagram with the cardinal directions on a map. The inability of conventional practitioners to come up with a logical, coherent answer to the Catt Question calls the theory, or hypothesis, of electric current into question at the most fundamental level.
History
The Catt Question was originally named “The Catt Anomaly”. Catt published a book by that title. The “anomaly” refers to the conflicting responses to the question itself. Many articles and letters on it have been published in Wireless World and a few in other publications. Relevant email circulations with dozens of recipients have circulated for years.
Southerners
In this view, the electric charge "rises up" from within the wire to manifest as a net charge on the line. Its proponents state that the charge could not have come from the 'West' as it would have had to move at teh speed of light. Critics of the Southerner view say that this violates Gauss's law.
- B. Lago
- Sir Michael Pepper, (The Cavendish Lab, Cambridge University),(The electrons 'rise up' from within.)
- Nigel Cook, (The two wires exchange photons.)
Westerners
In this view, the negative charge comes from the battery to the West, and is propelled through the wire by a variety of mechanisms, usually, but not always, involving some type of longitudinal pressure wave. Other respondents posit a transverse wave of some type, or a mixture of the two types.
- Brian Josephson, (The Cavendish Lab, Cambridge University), (pressure wave)
- Kirk T. McDonald, (Princeton Physics), (pressure wave mixed with transverse actions)
- Ian Darney, (Crossover theory, some similarly to Nigel Cook's.)
- Massimiliano Pieraccini, (University of Florence)
- Christopher W. P. Palmer (The Clarendon Lab, Oxford)
Articles
- Wireless World
- Stephen J Crothers
- Harry Ricker III
Books
- Electromagnetic Theory, C.A.M. Pub., 1983, ISBN 0-906340-03-9
- Death of Electric Current: Wireless World Articles and Letters, C.A.M. Pub., 1987, ISBN 0-906340-06-3
- The Catt Anomaly: Science Beyond the Crossroads, Westfields, 2001, ISBN 0-906340-15-2
- L'Anomalia, Massimiliano Pieraccini
