In reply to Bob Higgins's message of Fri, 10 Apr 2015 09:04:29 -0600: Hi, [snip] >I cannot pretend to be a spokesman for Dr. Piantelli's theory. I have a >couple of observations from this theory that I still cannot internally >justify (from my own limited understanding of nuclear physics). The first, >is that the H- anion is large - larger than a neutral H atom, and almost as >large as the Ni atom. So, how could the H- anion still appear like a >negative ion as it approaches the Ni nucleus to 2-100 fm? The H- nucleus >would no longer be screened at a distance of half of the H- diameter, so >the H- would never have been able to penetrate as a screened or attracted >particle - that is to say, by my thinking, unless the H- anion became a >compact atomic object, such as in a DDL state.
...and this is what has led me to reject his theory out of hand. >However, once the H- begins >to enter the Ni atom, Piantelli says that the "coalescence" of the H- anion >and the Ni atom occur extremely quickly, all the way to the nucleus (I >think of galaxies colliding and coalescing). All I can say is that I don't >understand exactly how it happens. Horace's version makes more sense. I.e. an electron and a proton tunnel into the Ni together as a neutral object. Hence no Coulomb barrier, which makes the central charge irrelevant, and explains why transmutation reactions are seen even for heavy atoms. The same might be said for severely shrunken Hydrinos. > >The second observation is that you cannot eject a 6 MeV proton by having an >H- anion "fall" into proximity with the Ni nucleus and then be >electrostatically ejected, unless some matter is converted to energy (the >fall should be conservative). This suggests that something nuclear is >happening in the branch of the reaction that results in the ejection of the >6 MeV proton to supply the proton with its 6 MeV of energy. Then, >shouldn't one expect that something nuclear happened to the Ni nucleus >during that branch as well? It probably does. ...however if two protons approach the Ni at the same time, and one of them fuses with the Ni releasing about 6 MeV of energy, and that energy is carried away by the second proton, then it makes perfect sense. What, two protons at the same time!?! Unlikely! - Not if they are already bound together in a shrunken Hydrogen molecule. However the problem with this entire scenario is that it creates radioactive Cu nuclei, and no such radiation is detected....unless of course the electron is captured by the proton inside the Cu nucleus converting it into a neutron in a fast electron capture reaction. That would result in a Ni isotope increased in mass by 1 neutron. The energy of the weak decay reaction could be carried away by the neutrino, and go unnoticed. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
