Now, this really gets to it!
At 12:03 AM 7/11/2009, you wrote:
On Jul 10, 2009, at 4:48 PM, Abd ul-Rahman Lomax wrote:
Takahashi's theory ... it seems to me that it predicts most known
CF phenomena:
1. No direct neutrons.
2. Surface reaction, since deuterium dissociates on entering the
lattice.
3. Takahashi predicts from quantum theory that if the TSC forms, it
will fuse 100%.
4. No momentum transfer problem, all energy is kinetic with the
alpha particles.
5. Alpha radiation.
[snip]
The emission of barely detectable amounts of 23.8 MeV alphas from
thin foils or co-deposition experiments is not consistent with the
excess heat observed. Given that most fusion is said to occur, by
Takahasi's theory and many others, at the surface, and given that
co- deposted cathode surfaces are made up of nanometer scale particles,
there is not enough barrier to 13 MeV alpha particles in typical
cathodes to suppress their detection enough to account for the low
count densities. To make a rough approximation based on copper,
particle attenuation in Pd at 13 MeV should be less than 0.3 MeV/mg/
cm^2. The density of Pd is 12 g/cm^3. A 100 micron foil weighs 12
g/ cm^3 * (100x10^-6 cm) = 0.0012 g/cm^2 = 1.2 mg/cm^2. Attenuation in
a 100 micron thick Pd foil, a 1.2 mg/cm foil, would only be on the
order of (0.3 MeV/mg/cm^2) * (1.2 mg/cm) = 360 keV. Water would of
course attenuate further, but direct CR-39 contact, such as that used
in the SPAWAR experiments, even with the added attenuation of an
intervening 6 micron plastic film, should not significantly reduce
the count of the 32 MeV alphas, only their apparent energies. The
excess heat, observed in surface hot spots, by SPAWAR and various
others, demand a significant particle count.
That sounds like the right objection. However, what I haven't seen is
estimates of the actual particle counts compared to what would be
expected from the generated heat. We do know that helium is generated
in the right amount. Mosier-Boss et al talk about attenuation from
the water film between the cathode and the CR-39. It's also possible
that there is some spatial bias in the emission of the alphas from a
TSC collapse and fusion; half the alphas are pretty much known to end
up buried in the palladium; ones emitted at a low angle would have a
longer path through the palladium film, if generated below the actual
surface, and a longer path through the water, but we should be able
to tell from the energy distribution and path indications as shown in
the CR-39.
Experimentally, we need to know what the actual counts are, what the
trajectories are, correlated with excess heat.
Takahashi proposes that the TSC does other things besides fuse all on
its lonesome. Being neutrally charged, it can approach the other
nuclei present, and some of the resulting reactions may end up with
different end products, thus we might be seeing, with the alphas,
only a fraction of the generated TSCs. He says it fuses 100% but that
would presume certain initial conditions that might not always apply.
I wonder at "barely detectable." I'd be much more comfortable with
real numbers, since the normal CR-39 direct-contact chip is solidly
damaged in areas in contact, the scattered pitting is only seen away
from direct contact. What is seen if there is only contact for a
short time? By comparing pitting over short time intervals, it should
be possible to come up with good measures of alpha flux, assuming
those are alphas. The most recent SPAWAR paper published is
addressing these kinds of issues, but it seems to have only begun.
As I recall reading the papers, the 6 mil film does greatly reduce
the count, so would this mean that the alphas are at much lower
energies by the time they encounter the film?
