Bob,
Here is more detail with a lot of reference which I am trying to wade through -- but you may find easier to navigate. https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Strong_gravitational_constant Obviously – if there were a solid case for this proposition, it would have gotten traction many years ago in the Ivory Towers, and Dufour would be better known in the broader field of Physics. Maybe he is way ahead of his time? From: Bob Higgins After having read Dufour's paper, it appears that it is complete hypothesis on the basis of the fact that the other forces seem to converge in magnitude at a sub-nuclear scale - so why shouldn't gravitation? He presents no apparent data that his hypothesis has any basis. Gravitation would have to change radically from the 100 micron scale to the 1 fermi scale. While possible, it would be nice to have some real evidence. It would seem like it would create a measurable change in the lines of hydrogen as predicted by the Dirac equation because this nonlinear gravity is not accounted in the Dirac equation (we know that the Schrodinger values are off for lack of inclusion of special relativity). Jones Beene wrote: One other thought about Dufour’s hypothesis of a VERY SIZEABLE INCREASE OF GRAVITATION AT PICOMETER DISTANCE (on the order of Coulomb repulsion). This provides the effective pressure, on the order of hundreds of gigapascals, which is required for the known version of metallic hydrogen. The denser version is merely a further step and not unexpected if gravity operates this way. <http://www.iscmns.org/asti06/J-DUFOUR%20-%20ASTI%20PRESENTATION%20-%202006.pdf> http://www.iscmns.org/asti06/J-DUFOUR%20-%20ASTI%20PRESENTATION%20-%202006.pdf Ten years ago, Durour is talking about a model with several binding energies for hydrogen in the range of several hundred eV and actually mentions the value of 650 eV which Holmlid settles on. No one paid much attention then. But Dufour goes further to imply that LENR does not need nuclear reactions if “picochemistry” involves any kind of asymmetry since the chemical energy level is so great. That would open a Pandora’s box which apparently he wishes to avoid, so the details of how picochemistry would ultimately be powered (ZPE ?) are missing. In so doing, he left open the door for Holmlid to get most of the credit… but LH deserves it. He has taken a huge risk, published tirelessly - and could come out of it with a big prize.
