Mention of the muon - in the context of LENR - reminded me of an overdue
response to Robin about the remote possibility of a "virtual muon" as a
candidate catalyst for deuterium fusion.
In this case, the gain in mass for the lepton, by a factor of 200 or
possibly much more, would need to be supplied to an electron as it
approached lightspeed, which is most unlikely outside of a Linac (the
Stanford Linac can push them to 50 GeV) ... unless . that is, the electron
becomes degenerate. Any attempt to frame LENR as being a product of virtual
muons would need to depend on electron degeneracy, due to ultra high
loading. It is a house of cards.
But so is every other theory about LENR, so this one is the plat-du-jour :-)
Since "pycnodeuterium" or deuterium clusters could also be a result of
degenerate matter, it should not be too much of a stretch to at least
consider the implications of a *PD-vm-PD* reaction (like P-e-P) where the PD
is pycno (or transitory BEC) and the vm is a massive electron made massive
by virtue of its degeneracy and acceleration.
To that end, let me paraphrase the Wiki entry on electron degeneracy, in the
context of how this "might happen" but stating up front the only evidence of
this possibility, is circumstantial:
1) Muon catalyzed fusion is well-known and accepted
2) The muon has a very short lifetime so it cannot operate in LENR as a
real particle
3) The muon is a lepton, like the electron, only more massive
4) As any particle approaches lightspeed that particle gains mass
5) Ergo, an electron accelerated to near lightspeed, when it reaches a
certain proximity can gain 200 times its own rest mass and would then appear
to be similar in charge, mass and spin to a muon which is well-known to
catalyze fusion.
It is an open issue, at that point (even if any of it could happen) that
such an electron would be poised to cause "virtual-muon fusion" of
deuterons, but until it is ruled out, there is no harm in laying out the
groundwork.
When a gas like deuterium becomes super-compressed, it can become a
degenerate gas that behaves like a solid. Solid hydrogen is thought to be a
superconductor at high temperature. "Overpotential" has been equated with
high internal pressure by some experts, such as when deuterium is loaded
into palladium at a high ratio. Other experts, notably including Ed Storms
do not agree with this characterization, so any conclusion based on this is
controversial - to say the least.
In degenerate gases, the kinetic energy of electrons is quite high but the
rate of collision between electrons and other particles is quite low,
therefore degenerate electrons can travel at velocities that approach the
speed of light if there is a means of acceleration (such as closely spaced
positive charge, especially superconductive).
In degenerate gases, when the mass per volume is increased, as when the
deuterium loading gets into the claimed range of Arata et al - which is in
excess of 4:1 atomic ratio (within the nickel FCC vacancy), then the
effective pressure is said to be increased exponentially, and the particles
become closer together than in any metal, so the object become dense. If the
degenerate gas object then becomes stable somehow, then it can be called
pycnodeuterium (or the other designations like transitory BEC).
It is at that point that an electron traveling at nearly the speed of light
is poised to cause "virtual muon fusion" via *PD-vm-PD* reaction where the
PD is pycno and the vm is a massive electron made massive by virtue of its
degeneracy and acceleration.
This generous helping of word salad, of course, does not mean that any of it
has risen to the level of a valid hypothesis - but since I have never seen
this M.O. spelled out in detail, this seemed like a good time to provide it
. at least as a target for you fizzix-snipers out there to take aim at.
Jones
