Hi Robin and Horace, Robin wrote: >In reply to Horace Heffner's message of Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:02:07 -0800: >>If the D(D,gamma)He4 branch is highly favored and the D(D,p)T and D >>(D,n) He3 reactions highly suppressed, it is reasonable to expect the >>lower energy branches are being energetically suppressed by a lack of >>energy to make them feasible.
>He4 is far more stable than either He3+n or T+p, and the only reason that it >doesn't form all the time is because the excited He4 nucleus doesn't have any >fast energy removal channel available to it (quadrupole gamma radiation is very >slow compared to energy loss via a fast particle). That means that the excited >nucleus usually breaks up releasing the energy as fast particles long before the >gamma ray could dispose of the energy. >However in your deflation fusion model there is *always* an electron present in >the newly formed He4* (because that's what catalyzed the reaction in the first >place). There is therefore nothing to hinder the formation of He4 by disposing >of the excess energy as kinetic energy of the electron, which has to be expelled >anyway. That neatly explains the change in branching ratios without resorting to >any exchange with the ZPE. Very interesting ideas Horace and Robin. I have often wondered if conservation of momentum could play a role in requiring particle emission as part of the hot fusion process. A fused He4 nucleus could contain too much angular momentum to remain stable without particle emission. Other fusion processes might produce more He4 if the mechanism did not involve such large ammounts of kinetic energy. Regards, George Holz Varitronics Systems geo...@varisys.com