That is what I was referring to as not viable Eric. I like your graphic as it demonstrates the processes clearly. You should note that He4 is almost always released along with another massive particle as I pointed out.
I also originally thought that the He3 plus a P to yield He4 would be an ideal path but saw references such as the one you found and quickly realized that He4 is a special case due to its enormous binding energy. The He4 isotope is so special that it prevents other isotopes and elements nearby from being stable as they decay into it. He4 plus a P or N are a couple of examples demonstrating its unique characteristics. Dave -----Original Message----- From: Eric Walker <[email protected]> To: vortex-l <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, Jul 23, 2012 12:38 am Subject: Re: [Vo]:principles of DGTG 's technology On Sun, Jul 22, 2012 at 9:33 PM, David Roberson <[email protected]> wrote: I would not expect to see He4 formed directly by the proton addition to He3 because the binding energy would tear it apart unless it is released quickly. Every viable fusion reaction that has He4 as a final product releases one or more large nucleons(proton, neutron or alpha) that help carry away the binding energy. Here's a nice graphic that gives a breakdown of the branching ratios: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Proton_proton_cycle.png It looks like 3He + p -> 4He + e+ + v happens 0.23e-5 percent of the time. Eric
