Phantom loop

A phantom loop is a suitably arranged electrical network that includes within the number of conductive paths part of the natural environment (which can be at the same time acting as a conductor of another circuit) to complete a circuit.^{[citation needed]} It is a form of open system. Phantom loops can occur in suspended circuits, in which the conductor has no ground and uses the ionosphere to complete the circuit at both ends.^{[citation needed]} Phantom loops can also occur in grounded circuits, in which the conductor has a ground and uses the lower atmosphere to complete the circuit at both ends (with the waves traversing the magnetic poles of the Earth).^{[citation needed]}

Examples

• The "electrodynamic tether" uses plasma contactors and the ionosphere, plus the electromagnetic induction from Earth's magnetic field, as parts of a dynamo (or an electric motor), to turn the kinetic energy of the spacecraft into electrical energy (or conversely).
• The Tesla coil, which can form a natural circuit.
• The long-distance electromagnetic telegraph, which in some cases used the ground as the return path for the circuit.
• Single wire earth return power distribution systems for supplying power at low cost to remote areas.

See also

Phantom circuit

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