Ue Transducer

A ue transducer is a device which generates a magical force using a different kind of energy, traditionally kinetic or electrical.

Design

There are two kinds of ue transducer: mechanical and solid-state.

Mechanical

Mechanical transducers use an inertial stator to convert the kinetic energy in a flywheel into a magic field. The stator an "induction chamber", a cluster of wave disks spinning along a central axel made of magically conductive material (typically glass or maple wood) called the "axial conductor". The wave disks are sheets of either onyx or quartz with magically insulating inlays of steel or graphite. As the disks spin in alternating directions, they fluctuate between their inlays lining up and being offset, rapidly changing the ue field shielding around the axial conductor. This frequency is called the "permeability frequency". The thinner, closer together, and more numerous the wave disks and the narrower, more tightly spaced the insulator inlays, the more pronounced the effect.

When activated, the terminal plug is closed, linking the axial conductor with conductive rings, known as stator coils, which loop around the induction chamber and connect to the other side. As the wave plates rapidly vary ue field permeability at the center of the coils, a powerful magical field is induced, generating a build up of magical energy in the axial conductor. This draws kinetic energy out of the wave disks, requiring a flywheel to maintain an exact speed. If the the permeability frequency reaches resonance with the stator coils' conductive harmonic, an exponential spike in magical energy will be produced.

The flywheel could be spun up by any source, although most designs relied on either a steam engine or water wheel. This meant that installations were typically the size of buildings, used exclusively to assist mages in complex spells or allow novice mages to practice high level spells. The largest mechanical ue transducer ever built is in Shining Stone Library.

Solid-state

Solid-state transducers use a "flux core" to produce magical fields using electricity. Flux cores are more simple in design than inertial stators but much more complicated in construction. They require pieces of finely milled jevrem cut into disks, called "terminals". These terminals sandwich a material which is electrically resistive but magically conductive. The first prototypes used glass, but diamond has been found to be the most effective. When current is applied to one terminal (called the "inlet"), it tries to complete the circuit by flowing to the other terminal (the "drain") but is blocked by the insulator (the "bridge"). Once a large enough charge has built up on the inlet, the jevrem converts the electricity to magical energy in an attempt to bypass the insulator. As the current from the inlet flows through the bridge to the drain, this magical flux induces a weak magical potential build up on the bridge.

As more layers of jevrem and diamond are sandwiched together, the percentage of the current that can be converted to magical energy approaches 100%. The downside is that number of terminal layers increases, the breakdown voltage increases linearly. Additionally, jevrem has a property where it absorbs magical energy and converts it into heat. Heat generation is proportional to flux, which is proportional to volume. However, jevrem produces a magical field on the surface layer, meaning that magical flux through the bridge is proportional to the surface area of the terminals. This means surface area must be maximized while keeping volume low. To accomplish this, terminals are machined into fine coils. Since jevrem is extremely fragile, these coils are difficult to manufacture and even after assembly, flux cores are very delicate.