On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 9:27 PM, <pagnu...@htdconnect.com> wrote: W-L electron capture may, or may not, occur, but AFAIK no one proposed > that neutrons would be generated ultracold. >
I thought that "ultracold" and "ultra low momentum" were basically synonymous -- please correct me if I'm wrong. If the neutrons are not ultracold, I can only imagine the neutron capture cross section of nickel, no matter how high it is, would decrease significantly, and the amount of neutrons escaping from the system would increase accordingly. On the basis of my hobbyist knowledge of nuclear physics, I suspect that if you're generating watts of power from neutron capture, you're going to need a neutron capture cross section close to infinity not to make a GM detector go off the scales. But some actual numbers are definitely warranted to test these assumptions. Eric
