In reply to David Roberson's message of Sat, 16 Jun 2012 20:27:19 -0400 (EDT): Hi, [snip] > >Perhaps the neutrons are captured in some manner and allowed to decay into >proton, electron, and an electron antineutrino. The antineutrino would easily >escape the system carrying away mass and energy. > >The total kinetic energy associated with the neutron in the test system would >be reduced by that carried away. Temperature is a measure of kinetic energy. > >A lot depends upon the magnitude of energy that is carried away by the >antineutrino. If it carries away all of the energy required to make a neutron >from the parts, then this process might explain the loss of heat. > >Dave
In the context of WL this might actually make sense. If the additional electron mass required to create the neutron in the first place came at the expense of thermal energy of the lattice, then the lattice would cool when the neutrons were created. If they decay without fusing, then on average about 580 keV is lost with the antineutrino. (Some may also be lost with the neutrino when the neutron is formed?) Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
