The existence of H4 to H7 and possibly beyond, as well as He5 to He8,
may throw some light on the intermediate states of some LENR
processes. An electron catalyzed wavefunction collapse of two
deuterons or more in a loaded lattice, possibly followed by a weak
reaction, could produce these ultra-heavy hydrogen or helium nuclei
as an intermediary state. The ability to shed 4 neutrons or more
from a heavy hydrogen or helium intermediate state implies the
ability of a quad-neutron to tunnel to a heavy nucleus in the
lattice. This could explain various observed jumps of 4 in nucleon
number of lattice elements in LENR experiments.
Quote of AIP Bulletin follows:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News
Number 834 July 27, 2007 by Phillip F. Schewe, Ben Stein
www.aip.org/pnu
HYDROGEN-SEVEN. An experiment at the GANIL facility in France is
the first to make, observe, identify, and characterize the heaviest
isotope yet of hydrogen, H-7, consisting of a lone proton and 6
neutrons. (An earlier experiment saw some inconclusive evidence for
this state-see Korsheninnikov et al., Physical Review Letters, 8 Feb
2003.) All of the lighter isotopes of hydrogen have previously
been seen: H-1 (ordinary hydrogen), H-2 (deuterium), H-3 (tritium),
and H-4 up to H-6. Technically speaking, the H-7 state (like H-4,
H-5, and H-6) is not a fully bound nucleus. It is considered a
resonance since (besides being very short lived) energy is required
to force the extra neutron to adhere to the other nucleons. In a
proper nucleus energy is required to remove a neutron.
In the GANIL experiment, a beam of helium-8 ions (themselves quite
rare) is smashed into a carbon-12 nucleus residing in a gas of
butane (see figure at http://www.aip.org/png/2007/283.htm). In a
few rare occurrences, the He-8 gives one of its protons to the C-12,
producing H-7 and N-13, respectively. The H-7 flies apart almost
immediately into H-3 and 4 separate neutrons. Meanwhile the N-13 is
observed in the active-target MAYA detector (named after a cartoon
character, Maya the Bee, whose honeycomb hive resembles the
hexagonal cathode pads in the experiment), a device much like a
bubble chamber, allowing its energy and trajectory to be deduced.
By taking the conservation of momentum and energy into account, the
fleeting existence of the H-7 is extracted from the N-13 data (see
the figure at www.aip.org/png). A total of 7 H-7 events was
observed. A rough lifetime for H-7 of less than 10^-21 seconds can
be inferred.
The helium-8 nucleus (2 protons plus 6 neutrons) used to make the
H-7 is interesting all by itself since it is believed to consist of
a nuclear core with two *halo* neutrons orbiting outside. This
radioactive species must carefully be gathered up from carbon-carbon
collisions (in a separate step) and then accelerated to
participating in the H-7 experiment. One of the GANIL researchers,
Manuel Caamaño Fresco ([EMAIL PROTECTED], 33-231-45-4435), says that
one of the chief reasons for looking at H-7 is to get a better
handle on exotic nuclear matter. The H-7 nucleus, during its brief
existence, might consist of a H-3 core and plus two 2-neutron
outriders, or maybe even a single 4-neutron blob outside. Larger
still hydrogen isotopes, such as H-8 or H-9, might be observable.
(Caamaño et al., Physical Review Letters, upcoming article; PhD
thesis at http://www.usc.es/genp/maya/)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
end quote
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
