In reply to Frank's message of Mon, 31 May 2010 11:50:21 -0400: Hi, [snip] >on Sun, 30 May 2010 11:03:27 Abd ul-Rahman Lomax said > >isn't this the problem of cold fusion itself? Generally, the problem reduces >to finding a mechanism which allows the weak force to take over by screening >the strong force or bringing nuclei within range that tunneling, for >example, can take place. But simple screening, isolated from collective >effects, clearly isn't the solution, because that would probably not change >the branching ratio; muon-catalyzed fusion doesn't, if I'm correct.
Electrons are 207 times lighter than muons, so there may be a much larger chance that they will absorb the reaction energy (IC) than there is for muons, thus allowing the reaction to He4 to take place, which is much more stable than the "low" energy reactions to either He3 or T. IOW He4 would "like" to form but usually cannot because of conservation of momentum considerations. Production of a fast electron however would make it possible. (As would production of 2 alphas under Takahashi's scheme). Note that emission of a gamma also allows momentum to be conserved, however the gamma emission is so such slower than simple fission that the fission of the excited nucleus to either T or He3 usually takes place long before gamma emission has a chance. The implication here is that if electron emission is the actual mechanism, then it must be close enough to the nucleus to vastly increase the odds of it being the predominant energy carrier. That in turn implies that it is either in a very small Mills orbital, or actually in the nucleus when the reaction happens. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
