Douglas G Torr
Summary
Douglas G. Torr is an American physicist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), known principally as co-author with Ning_Li of a series of papers (1991-1993) proposing that rotating superconductors should generate detectable gravitomagnetic fields — the theoretical basis of the "gravitomagnetic London moment" research programme that later produced Tajmar's experimental claims.
Life
Torr completed his PhD in atmospheric and space physics. He held positions at Utah State University and Pennsylvania State University before joining UAH, where he was Professor of Physics and Distinguished Research Scientist.
His mainstream publication record is in atmospheric physics and ionospheric chemistry — topics largely independent of the gravitomagnetic work for which he is best known in the alternative-physics community.
Key Contributions
Gravitomagnetic London moment papers
In a series of papers with Ning_Li (Li-Torr 1991 Physical Review B 43: 457; Li-Torr 1992 Physical Review B 46: 5489; Li-Torr 1993), the authors propose that rotating Type-II superconductors should generate detectable gravitomagnetic fields. The mechanism: the superconducting condensate's coherent quantum state produces a gravitomagnetic analogue of the London moment (the magnetic field generated by a rotating superconductor).
If the proposal is correct, gravitomagnetic effects in superconductor experiments should exceed the standard GR predictions by ~ 1011 orders of magnitude.
Atmospheric and ionospheric physics
Torr's mainstream career has been in upper-atmospheric physics — extensive publications on thermospheric composition, ionospheric ion chemistry, and atmospheric remote sensing.
Reception
The Li-Torr gravitomagnetic-London-moment proposal has received attention from both mainstream and alternative-physics communities. The theoretical derivation has been criticised (Wald 1992, others); the Tajmar group's experimental tests have produced ambiguous results that may or may not support the proposal.
Bibliography
- Li, N., Torr, D. G. (1991). "Effects of a gravitomagnetic field on pure superconductors." Physical Review D 43: 457–459.
- Li, N., Torr, D. G. (1992). "Gravitational effects on the magnetic attenuation of superconductors." Physical Review B 46: 5489–5495.
- Plus mainstream atmospheric-physics publications.
See Also
External Links
- University of Alabama in Huntsville physics faculty archive.
References
- Li, N., Torr, D. G. (1991, 1992). [as above]
