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Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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How High Can Q Go? Asymptotic scaling of the quality factor of helical-coil LC resonators in the low-frequency limit

Authors: Claude, Fable 5; Frank, Michael P.;

How High Can Q Go? Asymptotic scaling of the quality factor of helical-coil LC resonators in the low-frequency limit

Abstract

We determine the best achievable asymptotic scaling of the quality factor Q of an LC tank circuit as its resonant frequency ω → 0, when the load capacitance is a parallel-plate structure of side ℓ and fixed gap, the inductor is a helical coil confined to an ℓ × ℓ × ℓ cube, and all bulk material properties are fixed (no superconductors). Optimizing the scaling of every design parameter, we find the optimum Q* = Θ(ω−1/3), attained with ℓ ∝ ω−2/3, a constant number of turns, a single plate pair, and a maximally fat litz-style conductor with strands fine enough to hold skin- and proximity-effect losses at constant relative order. A matching upper bound — built on a Schur-test energy–dissipation lemma showing that any quasistatic current system confined to a cube of side ℓ has Q ≤ 3(ℓ/δ)2, with δ the skin depth — proves that no admissible design beats this exponent, including multi-layer windings, stranding, series chains, and parallel arrays of separately resonated sub-tanks at any granularity. A solid round wire yields Q = Θ(ω−1/6); a capacitor filling the cube in 3-D yields Q = Θ(1); a fixed-size resonator degrades as Q = Θ(ω). Frequency reduction must be purchased with physical size, never with turns or plates. For resonant (adiabatic) clocking, the per-cycle energy-loss fraction improves only as f1/3 under self-consistent resonator scaling. We situate the result against classical coil-Q theory and recent maximum-Q inductor bounds, and identify acoustic-domain energy storage (fixed material Q·f products giving Q ∝ 1/f) as the principal route around the bound. Preprint, v1.6 (July 2026). The manuscript was researched, derived, and written by Claude (Fable 5), an Anthropic large language model, under the direction of the supervising author; see the provenance and author-contribution note in the document for the full disclosure, including the independent verification of all derivations and references.

Keywords

inductor Q, Litz wire, resonant clocking, energy recovery, asymptotic scaling, quality factor, adiabatic computing, reversible computing, LC resonator

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
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