At 02:15 PM 7/14/2012, Axil Axil wrote:
The fact that no radioactive isotopes are found in the ash of the
cold fusion reaction is unequivocal proof that LENR is caused by the
lowering of the coulomb barrier and NOT a fusion process.
Sorry, not so.
It is proof that the mechanism, whatever it is, is not some form of
standard d-d fusion, with the Coulomb gate blasted out of the way by
some sort of unexpected energy concentration, perhaps, or diverted by
something as simple as uncomplicated catalysis, as with muon-catalyzed fusion.
But there are many kinds of fusion, many possibilities other than
this naive "known fusion" hypothesis, that did so much mischief in
1989-90 et seq. It came to the point that the lack of neutrons was
used to impeach all nuclear explanations as impossible, when, it
really should not have been controversial, there are known possible
nuclear reactions that don't emit neutrons, and "unknown nuclear
reaction" -- the actual claim of Pons and Fleischmann, is wide open.
Why nuclear?
Good question. Pons and Fleischmann thought they saw some neutrons.
They were mistaken. So all they had is heat, and they were experts at
measuring heat. They believed that the heat was more than could be
explained by chemistry. Hence what they really were claiming, beyond
the neutron error, was "this isn't chemistry."
However, some years later, the ash was identified, it's correlated
with the heat. It's helium. The immediate counterclaim was that the
helium was a result of leakage, since the detected helium was usually
below ambient helium levels.
Nice try. No cigar. The detected helium was strongly correlated with
the anomalous heat. Leaked helium would not do that. Further, time
measurement of helium in some experiments shows helium levels rising
toward helium with no slowing of rate, and passing beyond ambient.
Further, that the measured heat/helium ratio is consistent with that
for deuterium -> helium, a known fusion reaction, would be an
astonishing coincidence if due to leakage! Note that this does *not*
show that the reaction is d+d -> He-4 + gamma, because *any reaction*
that starts with deuterium and ends with helium will show the same ratio.
The gamma rays are not observed, which was used by Huizenga to
dismiss the helium results, but he knew full well the import, he
merely thought that Miles, who found this, would not be replicated.
He was wrong.
