Nuclear-chemical processes under the conditions of laser ablation of metals in aqueous media (problems of “cold fusion”)

Abstract

A brief review of results on initiation of nuclear transformations under conditions of the laser abla tion of metals in aqueous media upon exposure to picosecond laser impulses with peak intensity J E ∼ 10 10 -10 13 W/cm 2 , which is orders of magnitude less than required for the direct initiation of nuclear processes, J E ∼ 10 18 -10 19 W/cm 2 , is presented. It is shown that the decay rate of radioactive nuclei (using the example of uranium 238) increases significantly (by orders of magnitude), nucleus transmutation processes are initiated (using the example of the transmutation of mercury 196 nuclei into gold 197), and the nuclear fusion of light elements occurs (using the example of tritium nuclei) under such conditions. Concepts regarding the processes of inelastic (with the generation of neutrino-antineutrino pair) interactions between electrons of high (on the chemical scale) energies (~5-10 eV) and nuclei are developed in order to understand the totality of the cur rent experimental data on the initiation of such processes under conditions of the laser ablation of metals in solutions of ordinary and heavy water. This is reflected in the definition of such processes as nuclear-chem ical. It is suggested that the state of nuclear matter in nuclei formed during such interactions is in an unbal anced in shake up state, and cannot be pictured in the standard manner, as an ensemble of a certain number of nucleons. Such states are reactive for a wide class of nuclear transformations.

On Mechanisms of Low-Energy Nuclear-Chemical Processes

“…We also give examples [17,20] 27 Co agree with this conclusion: the half-life of β --active cesium-137 and barium-140 nuclei, equal to 30.1 years and 12.8 days, respectively, decreased to about 380 days and 2.7 days, while the halflife of cobalt-60, equal to 1925 days, remained practically unchanged. The Feynman diagrams corresponding to the β --decay processes, as well as the positron β + -decays of nuclei initiated by the е --catalysis mechanism, are shown in Fig.…”

“…In this paper, it is shown that the problems of establishing the possible mechanisms of LENR processes discussed above can be understood on the basis of the concepts of the interrelation between the electronic and nuclear subsystems of an atom [16][17][18][19][20], which determines the possibility of initiating the entire variety of nuclear transformations, including those studied in mentioned works [7][8][9][10][11][12][13], as well as realized in the Andrea Rossi E-CAT reactor [21,22].…”

“…According to the phenomenological understanding [17][18][19][20], the dynamic interrelation between the electron and nuclear subsystems of atom, realized through the electromagnetic component of the physical vacuum, the EM vacuum, is the key factor in initiating low-energy nuclear reactions [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and the processes of radioactive decay of nuclei [13,17,18]. A reflection of this interrelation is, in particular, the experimentally established facts showing that the possibility of radioactive decay of nuclei is determined by the positive difference between the mass of the initial nucleus together with the mass of the electron subsystem of the atom (i.e., the mass of the whole atom, not the nucleus) and the total mass of the decay products [23,24].…”

“…In the case under consideration, such a relaxation terminates with the decay of the virtual vector W --boson with the formation of the initial nucleus during the emission of an electron and antineutrino. The lifetime of the formed β-nuclei in the metastable isu-state can be rather considerable, from tens of minutes to several years, and the nuclei in this state can directly participate in a variety of nuclear processes [17,18].…”

“…According to [18,27], the violation of the general stability of nuclear matter in the metastable isu-state occurs as a result of a change in the boundary conditions for the components of the electric field intensity vector of the EM vacuum on the surface of the nucleus in whose volume such a violation of the NUCLEAR PHYSICS U nucleus, as shown in [17], increases by 9 orders of magnitude, so that a kind of "e --catalysis" is realized. The deficit ΔQ of the structural energy of the formed nucleus of β-protoactinium is ΔQ ≈ -3.46 MeV.…”