On Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 1:34:16 PM UTC-5, rickman wrote:
So if the shield has little to do with rejecting near field electrical
noise, what does the shield do?

A shield with the usual gap promotes balance.
And a small loop with a gapped shield is no quieter than a regular solenoid
or pancake wound loop.
Much of the usual "magnetic loop" theory that is on the web is malarkey.
A small loop is a small loop is a small loop as long as all are properly
balanced.