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What Is Now Known about Cold Fusion? (addendum to the Student's Guide)

This is an addendum to the " Student's Guide to Cold Fusion " that clarifies several issues based on the growing understanding. Because this is a stand-alone summary, some of the basic information given in more detail in the Guide is briefly repeated here. Nevertheless, the reader is encouraged to consult the Guide for more complete information. What is cold fusion? The phenomenon to which this name is applied was first announced by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons (Univ. of Utah) in 1989 [1]. Since then, studies in over eight countries have supported the claims and added to our understanding. The common belief that the effect was rejected because it could not be reproduced is simply not true and is based on ignorance. While the effect is difficult to produce, it has been replicated hundreds times and this work has resulted in over 1000 papers[2], many of which can be easily found in conventional peer reviewed scientific journals or on the web[3]. So much supporting information has now been published, continued rejection has no rational reasons. Because additional nuclear reactions besides fusion of deuterons have been observed, the name has been expanded to LENR, (low energy nuclear reactions) and CMNS (condensed matter nuclear science). Nevertheless, cold fusion remains the common identifier because most people relate this name to the phenomenon and the word 'fusion' accurately describes the general nature of the reactions. How does cold fusion differ from the hot fusion (plasma fusion) phenomenon? Fusion between two deuterons 1 normally requires application of considerable energy to cause the nuclei to approach close enough to fuse. This energy is required to overcome the barrier created by the positive charge on each nucleus, i.e. the Coulomb barrier. When this kind of fusion occurs, the products are always a mixture of energetic particles consisting of neutrons, helium-3, tritium, and protons, each in nearly equal amounts. Even when energetic deuterons bombard a metal, such as palladium, these products always form even when the applied energy is very low.[4] However, as the applied energy is lowered, the rate of reaction becomes too small to measure well before the energy associated with cold fusion is reached. Fusion can be made to occur more rapidly at low energy by replacing the electron in the D 2 molecule by the heavier muon[5-7], thereby bringing the nuclei closer together. Once again, the products typical of hot fusion result. In …