The HotCat appears to be constructed of a sealed tubular steel capsule containing hydrogen (as a solid hydride)and a catalyst, nested inside a larger ceramic tube of SiC. These two coaxial tubular units constitute the innermost components of the device. There is a narrow gap interface between the two walls - the exterior of the steel and the interior wall of the SiC. This interface has a spacing that shrinks as the steel expands under heating, but there is no diffusion welding of the two, so we can assume a gap is maintained.
Is that interface sufficient for a "whispering gallery" propagation mode for 10-20 micron IR radiation, which circulates to attain superradiance? That is the present premise. It would go a long way in explaining the operative characteristics of this device, if true. In this modified whispering gallery mode, as would hypothetically function in the HotCat, we would find a cylindrical interface, instead of the spherical or hemispherical geometry; and therefore the IR light waves will make fewer (thousands instead of millions) circulations around the interface before being absorbed. Full coherence may not be attained, but strong superradiance is expected. Whole numbers of wavelengths would be selected and reinforced in the same way that an IR laser works (10 and 20 microns would be the two most likely wavelengths). This causes both superradiance and surface plasmon/ polaritons to form. This version of the whispering gallery mode is assumed to have the same extremely low losses - to the extent that it seems superconducting (thermally). This would not be possible without SiC, which is an excellent reflector of 10-14 Micron radiation and absorber of everything else. Rossi's former US patent application had an image indicating Ni particle size of 10 microns with "nanometric" surface features. That fits in nicely with the idea that plasmons/polaritons are forming due to superradiance at this wavelength and then further reacting at a smaller geometry (Casimir level). Polaritons are of Casimir geometry and are possibly forming both inside and outside the steel capsule. Their function is probably to react with protons in some way. Mark Gibbs and others have noticed the similarity - possibly more than a metaphor between "muon catalyzed fusion" and "polariton catalyzed fusion". The role of Ni-62 in all of this is not clear. Many think Rossi's patent application is an elaborate case of disinformation, and it could be. However, he has no patent protection on anything other than this isotope - the way the document is worded. Of course, there could be other documents which have been filed, but not published. It is possible that Rossi's technique of treating 10 micron nickel particles chemically rearranges the heavier isotopes at the surface, but that is unlikely. However, all isotopes have unique near-field charge characteristics - and the one defining physical property of plasmons is extremely intense electrical fields. Thus, it can be surmised that the whispering gallery mode could facilitate the complementary actions of either enriching the interface between the two tubes in favorable isotopes, or in facilitating whatever is the gainful reaction, or both. Personally, I do not believe that the gainful reaction can be identified as the fusion of hydrogen to deuterium, nor as the fusion of nickel and hydrogen to copper - but it could be either if some viable method comes along to explain the lack of gammas. Both of these premises are falsifiable. There are other possibilities. All it takes to find out is proper funding. Jones
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