Robin, I believe that the 782 keV represents a steep electroweak barrier that repels electrons from protons at a very close range where it overwhelms the coulomb attractive force. Since the proton is a "quark bag", the equations governing the complete interaction become quite challenging - too much for me to tackle.
Yes - the barrier can be overcome by a purely kinetic collision, but I wager that bare collisions do not yield as many e+p-->n reactions as are (claimed to be) observed in high current/voltage dense matter systems. I am not sure. These reactions may not occur at all. Hopefully, experiments will give us a definitive answer soon. -- Lou Pagnucco mixent wrote: > In reply to [email protected]'s message of Sun, 17 Mar 2013 > 12:53:23 > -0400 (EDT): > Hi, > [snip] >>but the >>magnetic field it couples to can possess enormous momentum, allowing it >>to surmount potential barriers greater than KE. > > BTW there is no potential barrier here. The proton and the electron carry > opposite charges, so they are attracted to one another, rather than > repelled. > What is missing is sufficient mass to form a neutron. This can however be > overcome if the mass difference is supplied in the form kinetic energy. > > Regards, > > Robin van Spaandonk > > http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html > > >
