“Cold nuclear fusion”: A hypothetical model to probe an elusive phenomenon

Abstract

The natural tendency of identical bosons to clump in ordinary space is ascribed to a “symmetry force,” whose action is equivalent to the effects of the wavefunction for a collection of degenerate bosons. The symmetry force is hypothesized to produce clusters of deuterons in the lattice for a high enough stoichiometric ratio of deuterons to Pd atoms and to catalyze tunneling to achieve cold fusion. A semiempirical power law is derived as a function of the number of deuterons,N, in a representative cluster: for large enoughN the fusion products are He4 plus heat, while for small clusters the fusion rate is much lower and the Oppenheimer-Phillips process favors the production of tritium over neutrons. Pulsed production of heat and neutrons is suggested. Finally, three additional roles in physics for the symmetry force are hypothesized.