Physics of the Cold Fusion Phenomenon

Cold Fusion Research Laboratory (www.geocities.jp/hjrfq930/) Hideo Kozima

The cold fusion phenomenon (CFP), or the condensed matter nuclear science (CMNS), was discovered in 1989 by Fleischmann, Pons and Hawkins and extensively investigated thence by many researchers giving experimental data sets with tremendous amounts and variety of qualities unexpected by the pioneers themselves. We have given tiny scientific steps to explore the physics and chemistry of CFP in many papers in these 17 years which were compiled as a recent book^1）. In the works, the riddles including the discrepancy between the Fleischmann’s hypothesis and experimental data sets were resolved, which had been noticed already by the pioneers that was mentioned as “The most surprising feature of our results however, is that reactions (v) and (vi) are only a small part of the overall reaction scheme and that the bulk of the energy release is due to an hitherto unknown nuclear process or processes (presumably again due to deuterons).”

In this paper, following themes are investigated further to explore CFP on the results obtained and developed in nuclear and solid state physics; the neutron halos of medium mass-number nuclides, the nonlocal behavior of proton/deuteron wavefunctions in transition-metal hydrides/deuterides, the super-nuclear interaction between neutrons in adjacent lattice nuclei catalyzed by interstitial protons/deuterons, formation of CF-matter composed of neutron clusters floating in a thin neutron liquid, the interaction of lattice nuclei with the neutron clusters resulting in CFP.

The excited energy levels of a neutron in a nuclide near the evaporation level have a high level density and may be influenced little by the change of mass number. This is the reason that samples with transition metals with natural isotope ratios work as positive agents for CFP. Furthermore, the diffusivity of protons/deuterons in transition metals is surely correlated with extension of wave functions in them while the relation is pointed out by us but is not well resolved yet. It should be pointed out the interesting problem of the chemical riddles concerning the favorable affinity of transition metal- electrolyte combinations, e.g. Pd-Li, Ni-K, etc. are experimentally known but not explored until now.

1) Hideo Kozima, The Science of the Cold Fusion Phenomenon, Elsevier, 2006, ISBN-10: 0-08-045110-1.