In article .com,
wrote:

Maybe, like so many other threads in this group, we are discussing
orthogonal concepts.

I believe you're correct.

As I see it, in the *general* sense, linearity refers to a
relationship between two variables, where the relationship is one of

OUT = IN * F + C

where F and C are constants (plus a dimensional factor in many cases).
In other words, it's a straight-line relationship (hence, the name)
between two variables of the same or different dimension.

The sort of "linearity" that people usually refer to in electronics,
involves voltages and currents (vs. one another). A theoretically
perfect resistor, capacitor, or inductor is linear, because (e.g.) the
peak current through it has a strictly linear relationship to the peak
voltage across it.

A semiconductor junction is described as nonlinear, because the
current through it is not related to the voltage across it in a
strictly linear relationship.

The sort of "linearity" which Cecil seems to be referring to (if I
understand what he's written correctly) involves a completely
different sort of relationship. It's not current-vs-voltage, or
voltage-vs-current - it's current-vs-distance.

If I recall correctly, an infinitesimally-short "monopole" has a
current-vs-distance relationship which is close to linear. A
half-wave monopole does not.

Nonlinearities of this sort would have entirely different effects on
an antenna system than nonlinearities of the voltage-vs-current sort.

They're two different beasts entirely.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
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