The four configurations — Self, Droit, Davidson, Florence — are examples of possible arrangements of the Belluaire Component. They are not prescriptions. They illustrate the relationships and the energetic cost and gain of each.
This chapter draws out the principle that runs through all four: the relationship gradient. The closer a Reactor is to the +Source, the higher its gain. The further it is, the lower its gain. And beyond a certain distance, it does not work at all.
The Belluaire Component recognises three relationship levels. The self is the +Source alone. The direct relationship is a Reactor coupled to the +Source. The indirect relationship is a Reactor coupled to a direct Reactor. These three levels are the complete set. If there are levels of indirection beyond the indirect, they are beyond the scope of this book.
Each relationship level has a different output, because each is at a different distance from the +Source and therefore resonates with a different degree of vigour. The +Source, at its position, outputs +0.75 of a unit — the highest, because it is driven by the electromagnetic coils, the Source. A direct Reactor, one step removed, outputs +0.5 — it couples to the activated medium via the +Source but not to the Source directly. An indirect Reactor, two steps removed, outputs +0.25 — it couples through a direct Reactor.
The gradient is the principle. The numbers illustrate it. The closer to the +Source, the higher the gain. The further from the +Source, the lower the gain.
The values +0.75, +0.5, and +0.25 are not fixed coefficients. They are illustrative examples that demonstrate the relationship gradient. The actual gain at any position depends on the specifics of the installation — the geometry, the materials, the tuning, the medium.
What is fixed is the principle: proximity to the +Source determines the strength of the coupling, and the strength of the coupling determines the output. The numbers show the direction and the shape of the gradient, not its exact values.
The acoustic field is inexhaustible. The accumulated atmospheric infrasonic potential is continuously replenished by geological and atmospheric processes. The activated medium does not run out. The +Source does not work harder as more Reactors are added.
This means that, theoretically, the number of Reactors that can be added to an array is unlimited. The field will serve however many Reactors are present.
The practical limit is not the field. It is the physical medium.
The Reactors must be within the field’s effective range to resonate and produce output. Within that range, there is a finite amount of space. Once every position within the field’s effective range is occupied, no additional Reactor can be placed where it would function.
In the rock concert analogy. The limit is not that you can no longer hear the band. The limit is that the house is full. There is nowhere to stand. And the next available place to stand is so far from the concert that you cannot hear the music. a Reactor placed beyond the field’s effective range does not receive usable acoustic energy. It does not resonate. It does not work.
The field itself never runs out. The limit is that the Reactor must be within the field’s effective range to function — and the space within that range is finite.