> On Jul 27, 2014, at 9:51, Bob Higgins <rj.bob.higg...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I don't really understand what you mean by "strong Coulomb field in the > background".
I'm thinking of a gradient of Coulomb charge off to the side of the oncoming d's which is sufficient to polarize them as they approach one another in the center of mass frame. It would be provided by the heavy nuclei that make up the lattice sites in the metal (each of which will have a large number of protons). I am not thinking of relativistic velocities, and my hunch is that the d's will have time to orient in relation these gradients. > In plasma fusion, I envision the Coulomb field primarily coming from > repulsion from the two protons as they approach each other. Agreed. In a plasma, I doubt the positive charge density (or any charge density) in the background would be much, if anything. This is one of the details that I suspect makes cold fusion possible or not possible. Eric
