Can surface plasmons couple with dense hydrogen accumulating in nano cracks - in order to form large clusters of bosons at warm temperatures ? The cluster would contain many bound bosons (deuterium) in a condensed state. In effect, it is a “warm BEC”. If so then there is an instant route to thermal anomalies – far exceeding the limits of chemistry, but without nuclear fusion or nuclear decay.
Dozens of researchers in LENR have hypothesized that clusters of atoms are the key to energy gain. There are papers going back to the 1950s on pycnonuclear reactions in liquid deuterium but they did not realize then that with proper interfacial conditions, densification could happen at ambient or warm temperatures. Later - but still over twenty years ago, Arata & Zhang popularized the dense hydrogen cluster – aka pycno - as a predecessor of nuclear fusion. Fast forward while looking for a methodology (one with fewer miracles than actual thermonuclear fusion) and a clear alternative pathway arises. The sudden reversal of the dense state in an explosion would be one promising way to explain a thermal anomaly without the actual fusion. In such a reaction the active modality is a Coulomb explosion of the dense cluster. Excess energy would derive from the binding energy of the cluster being release suddenly. There is, in fact, evidence that the signature of this Coulomb explosion is radiation at 630 eV. Mizuno has mentioned this also but it is not his preferred modality for gain. If we accept the premise of hydrogen densification into redundant ground states, as originally promoted by Mills or as refined by Holmlid and formalized by Meulenberg et al via the Dirac equation - then the mystery of excess heat can be pinpointed to the nature of the binding energy of the dense species into clusters. Where did that energy gain originate? Can the Casimir force at a few nanometers be a relevant factor in cluster formation? This alternative explanation is a work in progress but fortunately there is a trove of information coming from the early days of semiconductor manufacturing with emphasis on surface plasmons. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0038109882908924 “Surface plasmon attenuation by thin film overlayers in the far infrared” 1980 Stegeman and Seymour Absorption of surface plasmons in “metal–cladding layer–air” structure at terahertz frequencies Zhizhin, Nikitin, Bogomolov 2006 “Absorption of surface plasmons (SP) guided by metal surface covered with a transparent layer (“cladding layer”) at terahertz frequencies has been studied both experimentally and by computer simulations. It was found that presence of the very thin layer increases SP absorption …” These early papers can be interpreted as making the case for a process where far Infrared radiation is actually powering the Casimir compression of hydrogen into dense clusters. Once compressed, perhaps QCD dynamics provide the “glue” which bind the cluster. As for gain - at some point the cluster becomes destabilized and the Coulomb explosion follows. The glue (perhaps a pseudo gluon) massive and that mass in converted to energy in the Coulomb explosion. This all fits together without the first miracle of nuclear fusion and the second miracle of a new kind of gamma-free fusion – by substituting the alternative miracle of QCD (strong force) pseudo-gluons. An evolving hypothesis like this may not hold up over time but at least for now - it wins the battle of conservation of miracles… <g>
