Session A31: Cold Fusion I

Cold Fusion -- An 18 Year Retrospective Short Description

18 years after the APS voted to refute the reality of Cold Fusion in Baltimore, it is appropriate to consider what has changed. Who was right? We will review the current state of knowledge from the perspective of what we know now compared to what we knew then\footnote{Hagelstein, M.C.H. McKubre, et al, Proc ICCF11, pp 23-59 (2006). http://www.lenrcanr.org/acrobat/Hagelsteinnewphysica}. Discussion will be made of various avenues of research that we have followed from the original Fleischmann Pons proposal: some failed, some unresolved and some successful.   

Production of High Energy Particles Using the Pd/D Co-Deposition Process

Using the Pd/D co-deposition technique\footnote{S. Szpak et al, J. Electroanal. Chem., v 580, 284(2005).}, we have obtained evidence (i.e., heat generation, hot spots, mini-explosions, radiation, and tritium production) suggestive that nuclear reactions can and do occur within the Pd lattice. It was found that these reactions are enhanced in the presence of either an external electric or magnetic field. SEM analysis of the cathodes shows morphological features suggestive of localized melting of the palladium. EDX analysis of these features show the presence of new elements which result form transmutation\footnote{S. Szpak et al, Naturwissenschaften, v 92, 394-397(2005).}. To verify that these new elements are indeed nuclear in origin, experiments have been conducted using CR-39 detectors, a commonly used etch-track detector for recording the emission of high energy particles such as alphas and protons. When the co-deposition reaction was conducted in either an external electric or magnetic field, numerous tracks due to high energy particles were clearly observed on the CR-39 detector in those areas where the cathode is in direct contact with the detector.   

Accuracy of Cold Fusion Calorimetry

The cold fusion controversy centers on the precision and accuracy of the calorimetric systems used to measure excess enthalpy generation. For open, isoperibolic calorimetric systems, there is no true steady state during D2O+LiOD electrolysis. Exact calorimetric measurements, therefore, require modeling by a differential equation that accounts for all heat flow pathways into and out of the calorimetric systems. The improper use and misunderstanding of this differential equation is a major source of confusion concerning cold fusion calorimetric measurements. The use of a platinum cathode as a control showed that excess power due to the controversial recombination effect was measurable at 1.1 plus or minus 0.1 mW. Theoretical calculations using Henry's Law and Fick's Law of Diffusion yield approximately 1 mW for this effect due to oxygen reduction at the cathode. Palladium-boron alloy materials prepared at the Naval Research Laboratory have shown a remarkable ability to produce excess power effects in the range of 100 to 400 mW. The excess power increased to over 9000 mW during the final boil-off phase in one experiment.   

Resonant Interaction, Approximate Symmetry, and Electromagnetic Interaction (EMI) in Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR)

Only recently (talk by P.A. Mosier-Boss et al, in this session) has it become possible to trigger high energy particle emission and Excess Heat, on demand, in LENR involving PdD. Also, most nuclear physicists are bothered by the fact that the dominant reaction appears to be related to the least common deuteron(d) fusion reaction,d+d $\rightarrow \alpha$+$\gamma$. A clear consensus about the underlying effect has also been illusive. One reason for this involves confusion about the approximate (SU2) symmetry: The fact that all d-d fusion reactions conserve isospin has been widely assumed to mean the dynamics is driven by the strong force interaction (SFI), NOT EMI. Thus, most nuclear physicists assume: 1. EMI is static; 2. Dominant reactions have smallest changes in incident kinetic energy (T); and (because of 2), d+d $\rightarrow \alpha$+$\gamma$ is suppressed. But this assumes a stronger form of SU2 symmetry than is present; d+d $\rightarrow \alpha$+$\gamma$ reactions are suppressed not because of large changes in T but because the interaction potential involves EMI, is dynamic (not static), the SFI is static, and because the two incident deuterons must have approximate Bose Exchange symmetry and vanishing spin. A generalization of this idea involves a resonant form of reaction, similar to the de-excitation of an atom. These and related (broken gauge) symmetry EMI effects on LENR are discussed.   

1.6 MHz Sonofusion Model and Measurement

Years of data collected by First Gate, involving various sonofusion systems, gains some support from recent extrapolations of hot fusion research. Consider the 10$^4$ k/sec of the high density low energy jet plasma of deuterons that originates from the collapse of the transient cavitation bubble (TCB), in D$_2$O that implants a target foil. And compare it to the jet plasma of Tokamak type plasmas with all their stability problems. Also consider the relevance of the imploding wire technology where the magnetohydrodynamic pressures exceed the crystal forces that bind atoms in wire conductors and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Applying this developed technology to the TCB jet plasmas of sonofusion makes the transition between hot and ``cold'' fusion more attractive. Our measurements show there is no long range radiation (gammas or neutrons) and $^4$He is the fusion product. These problems are addressed via coherence in the implanted high density transient deuteron Bosons (and proton Fermions) clusters in the heat producing target.   

Selective Resonant Tunneling through Coulomb Barrier by Confined Particles in Lattice

In 1993, Kasagi discovered the anomalous yield of 3 deuteron fusion reaction while searching the branching ratio of d+d fusion at low energy. In 1995-1997, Takahashi carefully studied this anomalous yield of 3 deuteron fusion reaction again. Distinct from the early Kasagi's study, Takahashi studied another 3 deuteron fusion channel: i.e. d+d+d$\rightarrow$ t (4.75MeV) + 3He (4.75MeV). Because only 2 nuclear products were emitted from this reaction channel, triton and helium-3 were clearly identified by their energy. From this information,Takahashi estimated the life-time of the 2 deuteron (2-d) resonance. It was in the order of 10$^5$ seconds. In this paper, selective resonant tunneling model was applied to calculate the life-time of this 2-d resonance inside the deuterated titanium. A square-well is assumed for the nuclear well, and a Coulomb repulsive potential is assumed for the long range interaction between two deuterons. The Coulomb potential is down shifted to include the electron- metal-screening. The lattice confined deuteron may bounce back and forth inside the lattice well. This may be called as the resonance which will greatly enhance the fusion reaction rate inside the nuclear well. An imaginary part of nuclear potential is introduced to describe this fusion rate.The calculated 2-d resonance lifetime, 10$^5$ seconds, agrees with Kasagi's and Takahashi's experimental data.   

Low Energy Nuclear Reactions: 2007 Update

This paper presents an overview of low energy nuclear reactions, a subset of the field of condensed matter nuclear science. Condensed matter nuclear science studies nuclear effects in and/or on condensed matter, including low energy nuclear reactions, an entirely new branch of science that gained widespread attention and notoriety beginning in 1989 with the announcement of a previously unrecognized source of energy by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons that came to be known as cold fusion. Two branches of LENR are recognized. The first includes a set of reactions like those observed by Fleischmann and Pons that use palladium and deuterium and yield excess heat and helium-4. Numerous mechanisms have been proposed to explain these reactions, however there is no consensus for, or general acceptance of, any of the theories. The claim of fusion is still considered speculative and, as such, is not an ideal term for this work. The other branch is a wide assortment of nuclear reactions that may occur with either hydrogen or deuterium. Anomalous nuclear transmutations are reported that involve light as well as heavy elements. The significant questions that face this field of research are: 1) Are LENRs a genuine nuclear reaction? 2) If so, is there a release of excess energy? 3) If there is, is the energy release cost-effective?   

Physics in a Many-Centered Environment

Physics in a many-center environment was born as the electron physics of metals. Electrons moving from the electrolyte of a battery to anode metal become quasi-particles with a many-centers geometry\footnote{ T.A. Chubb, Infinite Energy, Issue 70, in press (2006)}$^,$\footnote{ T.A. Chubb, ``Many-Centers Nuclei,'' submitted to Infinite Energy} The Ion Band State Theory of cold fusion assumes that a fraction of the deuterons in PdD$_x$ reconfigure to a many-centers geometry\footnote{T.A. Chubb and S.R. Chubb, Fusion Technol.,20, 93 (1991)}. Many-center geometry seems to apply to deuteron populations in nano-metal crystals as studied by Arata and Zhang, to Bloch-sensitive nuclei created in Iwamura's permeation studies, to the metastable nuclei forming alpha shower flakes as discovered by Oriani and Fisher and reproducibly produced by P. Mosier-Boss.   

Heat Produced During Electrolysis with a Tubular Pd Cathode

An explosion occurred during electrolysis of heavy water with a tubular Pd cathode\footnote{ X.-W. Zhang, W.-S. Zhang, D.-L. Wang et al, Proc. ICCF3, Nagoya, Japan, Oct 21 to 25, 1992, p. 381.} A Pd tube from the same batch was used as the cathode during electrolysis in a Seebeck envelope calorimeter which is capable of accurate heat measurements. Data was obtained first from a three cm length of the tube on one end, and then from a three cm length on the opposite end. There were no explosions, but both ends of the tube produced continuous excess thermal power (356 mW +/- 11 mW maximum). In addition there were 39 heat bursts (1.1 W maximum) from the first end during 201 hours of electrolysis and 58 heat bursts (1 W maximum) during 443 hours of electrolysis from the opposite end of the tube. The period of the heat bursts ranged from a few minutes to 3.3 hours. \\ \\ Data on the topography and microchemical composition of the tube surface before and after electrolysis will also be presented.