In reply to Eric Walker's message of Fri, 27 Nov 2015 18:00:46 -0600: Hi, [snip] >This suggests, then, that the same process that is leading to alpha decay >(e.g., suppression of the Coulomb barrier) might also be increasing the cross >section for alpha capture.
The Coulomb barrier is actually two different barriers depending on which direction you are going in. For fusion it really is a Coulomb barrier, i.e. you have to overcome the Coulomb force in order to enter the nucleus. For alpha emission it is actually a nuclear force barrier, since the Coulomb force actually helps in escaping, rather than hindering. Ergo, something which helps alpha emission is unlikely to help fusion. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
