Proc.
JCF4 (Oct. 17 – 18, 2002, Morioka, Japan)
Neutron Drops and Production of the Larger
Mass-Number Nuclides in CFP
Hideo
KOZIMA1)
Physics
Department, Portland State University
Portland,
OR 97207-0751
1)
On leave from Cold Fusion Research Laboratory, Yatsu 597-16, Shizuoka, Shizuoka
421-1202, Japan. E-mail: cf-lab.kozima@nifty.ne.jp
Key
words; nuclear excited level, neutron-proton interaction, neutron energy band
Abstract
Formation
of the neutron valence bands (NVB) below zero in transition-metal hydrides is
verified by quantum mechanical calculation of interaction between lattice
nuclei and occluded protons or deuterons. The local coherence of neutron Bloch
waves in the NVB results in formation of high-density neutron liquid (NL) and
neutron drops (ND) in boundary regions. The NL and ND interact with lattice
nuclei, protons (or deuterons) and minor nuclei in boundary regions to produce
cold fusion phenomenon (CFP) in which large change of nucleon and proton
numbers of nuclei occur with dissipating channels of liberated energy rather
than gamma emission
.
1.
Introduction
The
nuclear structure of isolated nuclei AZX has been
thoroughly investigated in about sixty years since the discovery of the atomic
nucleus in 1911 in order to achieve fundamental understanding in the energy
region up to several hundred MeV1,2). The global features of the
exited levels of nucleons and their energy distribution seem to be fairly well
described by the Fermi gas mode, while the results have had been mainly
confined to light nuclei and a quantitative analysis is plagued with
difficulties in the description of the reaction mechanism.1) This is
true even now especially for excited levels with energies very close to the
zero level; which corresponds to the neutron level with a binding energy of
zero in the nucleus AZX, or to the state where a neutron
and the separated nucleus A-1ZX remain still. (We use
this energy standard in this paper unless otherwise stated.)
Therefore,
it is interesting to investigate some phenomena that are directly related with
the excited levels of nucleons at around zero energy in medium and heavy
nuclei.
In
this paper, these features of excited states of nuclei in solids are
semi-quantitatively investigated on the knowledge of nuclear structures established
in nuclear physics and apply them to cold fusion phenomenon (CFP). We use the
Fermi gas model for nucleons in a nucleus throughout this work.
2.
Excited States of Neutrons and its Density of States in Medium and Heavy Nuclei
It
is a common knowledge in nuclear physics that average properties of the
excitation spectrum are given by the Fermi gas model as a result of dominance
of the particle degrees of freedom over the number of collective modes.1)
In
the Fermi gas model, nucleons in a lattice nucleus at ai is
treated as independent particles and their quantum states ƒÕ{n}(x,
ai) are specified by quantum numbers {n} ß
(n, l, m, s);
ƒÕ{n}(x,
ai) =ƒÕ{nlms}(x
– ai, ƒÐ).
(1)
The
wave function of a neutron in a nucleus AZX, however,
extends far away from the nucleus when the energy E of the state is less
than but close to zero and then the wave function outsides the nucleus is
approximated by
ƒÕ{nlms}(x
– ai, ƒÐ)
= ci e –ƒÅ|r
– ai| Yl,m(ƒÆi,ƒÓi)ƒÔs(ƒÐ),
(2)
whereƒÅ߃Å(|E|)
is a damping factor of the radial wave function depending on the energy assumed
for simplicity to be independent of quantum numbers, and (ƒÆi,ƒÓi)
are angles measured from the lattice point ai. In the
following treatment, we use the wave function (1) until we need the wave
function (2).
The
result of the calculation of the total level density for the Fermi gas in a
nucleus AZX is given as:1)
ƒÏ(N,Z,ƒÃ)=
(61/4g0/12(g0ƒÃ)5/4)exp((4ƒÎ2/6)g0ƒÃ)1/2
(N
≃ Z) (3)
where
ƒÃ is the excitation energy measured from
the ground state level and g0 is the one-particle level density at
the Fermi energy gF, representing the sum of the proton and
neutron level densities
g0
ß g(ƒÃF)
= (3/2)(A/ƒÃF),
(4)
for
a case Z = N = A/2. These levels seem very sharp and have
fairly long lifetime, which we take as an infinite in the following treatment.
The
energy range, where the above formula is applicable, is determined by a
relation
ƒÃF
/A á E áƒÃFA1/3,
(5)
whereƒÃF
≈ 37 MeV for heavy nuclei.1)
This relation gives an energy range 0.4 – 170 MeV of applicability of the
relation (3) for nuclei with mass numbers A ≅
100.
High
density of nuclear levels at high excitation energies, amounts of the order 106
times higher than that corresponding to single-particle motion, has been
revealed by densely spaced, sharp resonances in the slow neutron capture
reactions and results in formation of the compound nucleus in a nucleus with A
≅ 100.1,3) The figure 106
will be increased further by several orders when the energy of the slow neutron
capture reactions goes down to ≅
1 eV. In the following discussion, we will take this factor as
109 at its maximum suggested by experimental data for Ag in the
range of 2 to 8 MeV3) considering later application to Pd isotopes
in the energy range up to 10 MeV.
3.
Effective Potential for the Super-nuclear Interaction between Neutrons in
Adjacent Lattice Nuclei of Metal Hydrides and Deuterides
In
the transition-metal hydrides MeHx, on the other hand, the crystal
structure is dependent on the concentration x of hydrogen isotopes which
can be introduced into the crystal lattice of the metal Me continuously until a
definite limit and kept stably there (occluded).4,5) We confine our
investigation to crystals of stoichiometric compounds PdH for our object in the
following treatment. In this compound, hydrogen atoms occluded in the crystal
are ionized and occupy octahedral interstices having six Pd atoms each as
nearest neighbors on the crystallographic axes half way of the lattice constant
a. The lattice constant a of the compound PdHx depends
on the composition and that of PdH is a little larger than that of Pd crystal
3.89 ð. In the following treatment, however, we
ignore the dependence of a on the composition x and use the value
for Pd crystal as for the compound PdH.
Dynamical
behavior of the proton occluded in transition-metal hydrides is described as a
harmonic oscillator in its ground and lower excited states. The wave function, ƒÓp(R–bj,ƒÐ),
of a proton in a state specified by quantum numbers p ß
(np,l,m,sp) at an interstice bj
can have finite probability density at nearby lattice point at ai, a nearest
neighbor of bj, especially when the proton is in its
excited states. If we ignore mutual interaction of Z protons on
different interstices, the total proton wave function may be expressed as a
product of wave functions on the interstices (neglecting anti-symmetrization),
ƒ³{pƒ¿}(X1,
X2,
,Xz,) = ƒ®jƒÓ{pj}(Rj
–bj,ƒÐj), (6)
where
{pƒ¿}
ß{p1, p2,
, pz}.
The
overlapping of the proton wave functionƒÓ{pj}(Rj
– bj) on the interstice bj
with a nucleon (neutron) wave functionƒÕ{n}(r
– ai), Eq. (1), of an adjacent lattice nucleus at ai
results in the proton-neutron interaction through the nuclear force. The
nuclear interaction is expressed by a potential whose form is taken, for
example, as the square-well type;
Vs(r
– R) = – V(s)0, (|r – R|
< b) (7)
=
0, (|r – R > b)
where
V(s)0 ≅
3.5 MeV and b ≅
2.2 ~10–13 cm.6) The
choice of this potential out of several possible types does not make a large
difference to the result for low energy phenomena we are considering in this
paper.
This
interaction pulls two neutron states in different lattice nuclei into coupling
as shown below that we will call the "super-nuclear interaction." In
the following investigation, we concentrate on excited neutrons in lattice
nuclei than protons, which needs more energy to be raised to the excited levels
with the same energy than neutrons due to the fact Z á
N. (In Pd, Z = 46 and N = 56 – 64.)
Let
us consider a neutron in an excited state {n} of one of lattice nuclei.
The regularity of the crystal lattice determines the coefficients of the linear
combination as required by the Bloch's theorem.7) Then in a periodic
potential of lattice nuclei, a neutron in an excited state {n} of a
lattice nucleus at ai should be expressed by a Bloch
function (omitting the spin part)
ƒÕk(r) = ƒ°i
ei(kai)ƒÕ{n}(r
– ai).
(8)
Therefore,
the total wave function of the system composed of a neutron Bloch waveƒÕk(r)
and z occluded protons in the state {pƒ¿}
= {p1, p2, , pz,} at interstices is
expressed as (omitting spin parts)
ĵk,{p}(r;R1,
R2 , Rz)
=ƒÕk(r)
ƒ³{pƒ¿}(X1,
X2,
,Xz,) . (9)
The
total energy Ek,{pƒ¿}
of this system in the second-order perturbation approximation is expressed as
follows taking the square well potential for the nuclear interaction:
Ek,{pƒ¿}
= E{n,pƒ¿}
+
ƒ°kf,i,if,jexp(–i(kai
– kfaif))vnp(iifj), (10)
vnp(ii'j)
=ƒ°p'(<np;ij|V|n'p';ij><n'p';i'j|V|np;i'j>)/(E{n',p'}
– E{n,p}),
=ƒ°{pf}‚{p}PçdEƒÏ~
(<np;ij|V|n'p';ij><n'p';i'j|V|np;i'j>)/(E+ƒÃp'p), (11)
E{n,pƒ¿} =
E{n}(p) + ƒ°jƒÃpj,
V(r) = Vs(r), (12)
<np;ij|V|n'p';ij>
= èdrdRjƒÕ*{n}(r
– ai)ƒÓ*{p}(Rj
–bj,)
~Vs(r
– R) ƒÕ{nf}(r
– ai)ƒÓpf(Rj
–bj,), (13)
where
summations over i and i' in (10) are only over the nearest
neighbor lattice points ai and aif
of an interstice bj, ƒÏn(E)
is a density of states for neutron quantum states, ƒÃp'p
߃Ãpf
–ƒÃp,
and E ßE{n'}
– E{n}. Further, the summation over {pf}
reduces to a factor, (np+1)(np+2), the degeneracy of the
energyƒÃnp.
E{n}(p) is an energy of a neutron in an excited
stateƒÕ{nf}(r
– ai) in a lattice nucleus at ai
when occluded protons are in states {pƒ¿},
and ƒÃpj
in (12) is an energy of a proton in a stateƒÓpj(Rj
–bj,) at an interstice bj. We
ignore, however, p-dependence of E{n}(p) hereafter
in this work.
For
the neutron wave function (1) in the Fermi gas model, we can describe wave
functions ƒÕ{nf}(r
– ai) by those determined in the nuclear harmonic oscillator
potential in a nucleus to calculate matrix elements (13) in the above equation
(11):
ƒÕnlms(r,ƒÆ,ƒÓ,ƒÐ)
=
Rnl(r)Ylm(ƒÆ,ƒÓ)ƒÔs(ƒÐ), (|m| …
l) (14)
Enlms
= (n + 3/2)(h/2ƒÎ)ƒÖn
+ ƒ¢ƒÃlms
(15)
whereƒ¢ƒÃlms
expresses the l·s
and other coupling energies taken symbolically into consideration to
distinguish energies of the states with the same n and different l,
m, and s, ƒÖn
is the circular frequency of the harmonic oscillator and Ylm(ƒÆ,ƒÓ)
are the spherical harmonics.
In
nuclei of palladium isotopes, we can use an excited neutron state 2f7/2
as shown by shell model calculation with a Woods-Saxon potential1)
for the order of magnitude estimation of (14):
ƒÕ2f
7/2,s (r,ƒÆ,ƒÓ,ƒÐ)
=
R53(z)Y3m(ƒÆ,ƒÓ)ƒÔs(ƒÐ),
(|m|… 3) (16)
R53(z)
= Cn(32/210)1/2z3/2(1 – (2/9)z)e–z/2, (17)
Cn
= 2(8ƒ¿n3/ƒÎ)1/4, z = 2ƒ¿n
r2,
ƒ¿n
= ƒÎmnƒÖn/h,
where
mn is the mass of the neutron and ƒÖn
= 41/A1/3 MeV.8)
For
the interstitial proton wave functionsƒÓpf(Rj
–bj,) in PdH, on the other hand, we can use a wave
functionƒÓ1d(R,ƒ¦,ƒ³)
in a lattice harmonic oscillator potential centered at an interstice determined
by diffusion data;9)
ƒÓpf(Rj)
=ƒÓnplmsf(R,
ƒ¦,ƒ³,ƒÐp)
=
ƒÌnpl(R)Ylm
(ƒ¦,ƒ³)ƒÔs(ƒÐp), (|m|…l)
(18)
ƒÃnplm
= 2ƒÎ(np
+ 3/2)hƒÖp,
(19)
ƒÓ1df(R,
ƒ¦,ƒ³)
=ƒÌ1d(Z)Y20(ƒ¦,ƒ³),
(n = 2) (20)
ƒÌ1d(Z)
= Cp(4/15)1/2Zexp(–Z/2),
(21)
Cp
= 2(8ƒ¿p3/ƒÎ)1/4,
Z = 2ƒ¿pR2,
ƒ¿p
= {mpƒÎƒÖp/h}, ƒÖp
= (K/mp)1/2,
or
by Hermite polynomials Hn(ƒÌ);10)
ƒÓpf(Rj
–bj, ƒÐp)
= unx(x) uny(y) unz(z) ƒÔs(ƒÐp), (22)
unx(x)
= NnHn(ƒ¿x)exp(–(1/2)ƒ¿2x2), (23)
ƒ¿4
= 4ƒÎ2mpK/h2,
Nn = (ƒ¿/ƒÎ
1/22nn!))1/2.
where
R = (R, ƒ¦,ƒ³),
np is an integer, l …
np and |m| …l,
ƒÃnlm
is the proton energy of the stateƒÓnlmf(R),
ƒÖp
= (K/mp)1/2, mp is the mass of
the proton, K is the force constant, and ni (i =
x, y, z) are integers.
The
proton wave functions thus determined include already effects of screening by
itinerant electrons and electrons bound in atoms, and also the effect of
Coulomb repulsion by lattice nuclei.
The
analysis based on the diffusion data9) showed that appropriate wave
functions for a proton in the NbH is that with n = 2 in the above equation and
the corresponding force constant K is given as
KH = 1.44 ~1019
eV/m2 (NbH)
. (24)
We
use this value for PdH to make an order of magnitude estimation in this paper.
A
concrete expression of the matrix element (14) for PdH is expressed as follows
using wave functions (15), (19), and others:
<2f{7/2}1d;ij|V|2p{3/2}2s;ij>
=
– èdrdRjR53(zi)Y3,0(ƒÆi,ƒÓi)ƒÔ1d(Zj)Y2,0(ƒ¦j,ƒ³j)
~Vs(r
– Rj)R51(zi)Y1,0(ƒÆi,ƒÓi
)ƒÔ2s(Zj)
Y0,0(ƒ¦j,ƒ³j),
(25)
zi
= 2ƒ¿n|r
– ai|2, Zj = 2ƒ¿p|Rj
– bj|2,
where
ai is a nearest neighbor lattice site of an interstice
bj, K = KH inƒ¿p
in Eq.(22), and (ƒÆi,ƒÓi)
and (ƒ¦j,ƒ³j)
are angles measured from origins at ai and bj,
respectively.
To
estimate an order of magnitude of the effective potential vnp(ii'j)
(11), we utilize the property of the densely spaced excited states explained
before and ignore selection rules associated with single configurations.
Furthermore, we put the numerator of (11) as a constant and take it as the
value of the matrix element (25) for PdH.
Then,
the order of magnitude of the effective potential vnp(ii'j)
given in Eq.(11) is estimated as follows: the proton wave functionƒÓpf(R)
is slowly varying in the range of the nuclear force, and the nuclear wave
functionƒÕn(r)
is approximated by a delta-function. Then, an order of magnitude of the matrix
elements <np;ij|V|n'p';ij> is given as
|<np;ij|V|n'p';ij>|
≅
çƒÕn(r)*
ƒÕn(r)dr<V>ƒÓpf(R)
*ƒÓpf(R)ƒ¶ (26)
≅
1~{4/3}ƒÎr03~|u2(xN)|2|u0(0)|2|u0(0)|2
=
3.2 ~10–14 eV, (27)
where
Ħis the volume of the Pd nucleus, <V>
= |V0(s)|= 3.5 MeV (Eq.(7)), ƒÓpf(R)
is taken as u2(x)u0(y)u0(z)
and xN = 1.95ð is
the position of the lattice nucleus measured from the interstice.
Putting
this value (30) into Eq.(11), we can estimate the effective potential vnp(ii'j)
as a function of the principal value of the integration appeared in that
equation, assuming the insensitiveness of the matrix elements to the energy:
vnp(ii'j)
≈ 1~10–27
eV2I,
I
ß Pç(ƒÏn(E)/E)dE.
(28)
We
can estimate the approximate value of the integral I, taking following
valuesƒÏn(E)
≈109 keV–1, ƒÂƒÃ≈
10–9 keV, and ƒ¢ƒÃ≈1
keV on the assumption that single particle energy level difference is ≈
1 keV and the level density increases to 109 times larger than that
of single particle motion:
I
≈ (ƒÏn(ƒÃ)/ƒÂƒÃ)
ƒ¢ƒÃ
= 1015 eV–1.
vnp(ii'j)
≈ 1 ~10–12
( eV).
(29)
4.
Tight-Binding Neutron Bands in Metal Hydrides and Deuterides
The
effective super-nuclear interaction energy obtained above is used to calculate
band structure of neutron energy in transition-metal hydrides that is
originated in the excited states of neutrons in lattice nuclei and mediated by
occluded hydrogen isotopes.
To
show briefly crystal-structure dependence of the bandwidth, we will make a
simplification of the super-nuclear interaction (11) between adjacent nuclei at
ai and aif assuming that it
depends only on the magnitude of the vector al ß
ai – aif.
Then,
we can rewrite the total energy (10) and have energy spectrum of the neutron
Bloch waves in the face centered cubic (fcc) lattice (a is the side of
the lattice cube);7)
E
= E{n,pƒ¿}
– ƒ¿- 2~4ƒÁ(cos(1/4)kya
cos(1/4)kza + cos(1/4)kza cos(1/4)kxa
+ cos(1/4)kxa cos(1/4)kya)
–
2ƒÁ(coskxa + coskya
+ coskza)
(fcc) (30)
E{n,pƒ¿}
= E{n} + ƒ°jƒÃpj,
–
ƒ¿ = vnp(0), –ƒÁ
= vnp(ii'j),
(31)
The
factor 2 in the third term on the right comes from the fact that nearest
neighbor lattice nuclei are mediated by two protons at different interstices
while next nearest ones are by only one. A characteristic of this energy band
formation is the contributions from nearest neighbors ((0, }a/2,
}a/2) etc.) and also from next nearest
neighbors ((}a,0,0)
etc.) to the k-dependent terms.
The
neutron energy bands originating in the excited states of lattice nuclei are
located below zero energy in contrast to those originating in free neutron
states above zero worked out in a previous paper.11) The former
could be called neutron valence band and the latter neutron
conduction band to distinguish them in the following discussion of the
nuclear reactions in solids.
Using
the value of vnp(ii'j) given in (29), we obtain a
semi-quantitative estimation of the valence band width Ģ
from Eq.(30):
Ģ
= 24 vnp(ii'j) ≈ 10–8 (meV) (PdH). (32)
Thus,
it is concluded that the matrix elements (25) should be 105 times
larger than the values estimated in (27) to substantially keep the neutron
bands below zero which was determined to form in solids with a width Ģ
≥ 25 meV that is not destroyed by the
thermal motion of ions at room temperature. This is realized only when the
neutron wave function (1) extends out as the wave function (2) from a lattice
nucleus to regions where a wave function of the occluded proton (23) has a
larger value by a factor 105 than that at the lattice nuclei. The
main term of the proton wave function relevant to this behavior is the
exponential factor exp{–ƒ¿2x2/2}
in (23) and it gives this value at x0 = 1.43 ð
from an interstice (or 0.52 ð
from a lattice point). If this behavior is coupled with an extension of the
neutron wave function (2), then the neutron-proton interaction can contribute
to formation of a neutron valence band with a width of Ģ
≿ 25 meV.
From
a point of view of the isolated nucleus treated in conventional nuclear
physics, this is an unconceivable situation. While, the extension of a neutron
wave function (2) far away to 0.52 ð=
5.2~10–9 cm over the nuclear
extent range of r0 = 10–13 cm, i.e. 104 times
longer than r0, is not absurd in the situation we are considering
here.
As
was shown by numerical calculation in a previous paper,11) the
energy of thermal neutrons interacting with lattice nuclei by attractive
nuclear force is pulled down below zero; the states of propagating waves then
become quasi-localized states around lattice nuclei with a damping factor
depending on the strength of the attractive interaction. The same situation is
also realized from opposite direction as a limit of highest bound states as
shown in Eq.(2). We consider here an s-type wave function for the state, for
simplicity:
ƒÕƒÅ(r-
ai) = ci exp( –iƒÅ|r
– ai|).
(33)
To
extend the neutron wave function to the range of ă=
5.2 ~10–9 cm referred above, the
decay constant of the state ā(|E|)
= 1/ă should be 1.9 ~108
cm–1 and this corresponds to an energy E:
|E|
= (h2/8ƒÎ2mn)ƒÅ(|E|)2 = 7.4 (eV) (34)
below
zero, where mn = 1.67~10–24
g is the neutron mass. In other words, the excited states of isolated lattice
nuclei with energies of from zero to 7 eV can participate to the neutron
valence band, or the neutron bands below zero, in transition-metal hydrides
considered above.
If
the state has less energy, i.e. far from zero, and the extension of the state
is less than 5.2~10–9
cm, the band state fails to be substantially formed even in PdH and neutrons
are essentially in single particle states in isolated lattice nuclei.
5.
Discussion
When
there are many neutrons in a neutron band, there appear interesting features of
neutron's behavior at boundaries that reflect neutrons back into the crystal;
"local coherence" of neutron Bloch waves, and therefore, high
densities of neutrons (neutron liquid) appear there.12) High-density
neutrons in the boundary region13) or in neutron star matters 14,15)
induce formation of "neutron drops" (or clusters of many neutrons and
a few protons and corresponding electrons) in a thin neutron background. These
neutron liquid (NL) and neutron drops (ND) in a thin neutron background
interact with nuclei to produce new nuclear effects in the boundary region.
Scenario
of the CFP will be written down as follows. The background thermal neutrons in
ambience trapped in a sample of the transition-metal hydrides or deuterides are
in a neutron conduction band. Their density at boundary region becomes high due
to the local coherence but may be not so large and not enough to form neutron
drops. The neutrons in the band, however, can reacts with nuclei in the
boundary region and the reactions are the trigger reactions.16,17) The
nuclear products of the trigger reactions induce breeding reactions resulting
in multiplication of the number of neutrons in the conduction band and also
excitation of neutrons in lattice nuclei.
The
latter effect makes possible formation of neutron valence bands (NVB) in the CF
matter we are now considering. The density of neutrons in the NVB will be very
large enough to form neutron liquid (NL) and neutron drops (ND) in the boundary
region. The ND thus formed may be in a lattice (a Coulomb lattice) with smaller
lattice constants coexisting with original crystal lattice of the transition
metal with larger (≈
102 times) lattice constants. This is a new state of solids not
noticed and not observed until CFP was detected.
The
NL and/or ND thus formed can give or exchange nucleons with lattice nuclei
and/or with nuclei of minor elements in the boundary layer. Nuclear reactions
investigated in nuclear physics in 20th century were mainly those occur in free
space except rare cases of n-p cluster formations in the neutron star matter.14,15)
The nuclear reactions in surface layers where are lattice nuclei, occluded
hydrogen isotopes, and high density neutrons (NL and ND) should be
distinguished from those occurring in free space and treated with similar
cautions to the n-p cluster formation in the neutron star matter.15)
The
fundamental differences related with nuclear transmutations observed in CFP are
possibilities of 1) nucleon exchange between NL (and/or ND) and lattice nuclei (and/or
minor nuclei) and 2) energy exchange between NL (and/or ND) and nuclides in
excited states in the CF matter. The former gives a possibility to generate new
nuclides with largely different mass and proton numbers from lattice or minor
nuclei in the CF matter and the latter gives a possibility to stabilize excited
states of nuclides without emission of ƒÁ–
rays.
In
our treatment of experimental data sets in CFP,11,12,16–18) we have
applied the TNCF model to various events only using reactions where occurs
absorption of a neutron by a nucleus followed by ƒÀ–
or ƒ¿– decay or by fission to explain various
products with successful results. The nuclear transmutations, however, have
shown large changes of mass numbers up to several tens in the experiments
showing NTF19–23) and recent experiment of NTA23–27)
which needs possibility to absorb large number of neutrons or sometimes the n-p
clusters simultaneously. The formation of NL and/or the neutron drops (ND)
gives natural explanation of these absorptions.
As
we have seen in this paper, CFP is a wide spread phenomenon including excess
heat generation, three types of NT, production of light elements, 3H
and 4He, emissions of neutrons, gammas and X-rays with various
energies up to about 10 MeV, and decay-time shortenings16,28-30) occurring
in complex systems composed of transition-metal hydrides and deuterides and
others at about room temperature in ambient radiation.
The
events with large variety from nuclear transmutations to emissions of light
particles and ƒÁ-rays
are evidences of nuclear reactions occurring in surface layers of CF materials,
especially transition-metal hydrides and deuterides, intermittently and
sporadically. Investigating this phenomenon, we could figure out physics of CFP
as neutron physics in crystals occluding hydrogen isotopes; formation of two
types of neutron bands, neutron liquid and neutron drops in surface layers
where appears the local coherence of neutron Bloch waves.
Knowing
physics of CFP, we can explore various applications of this phenomenon ranging
from production of new nuclides, remediation of hazardous radioactivity, and
production of thermal energy although limited by our poor imagination at
present. Really, world of application of this phenomenon will be wider exceeding
our present imagination.
Acknowledgment
The
author would like to express his thanks to John Dash, Makoto Takeo and Jon
Warner for valuable discussions during this work. This work is supported by a
grant from the New York Community Trust and Professional Development Fund for
Part-time Faculty of Portland State University.
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