EXPERIMENTAL TEST OF BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION MECHANISM FOR LOW ENERGY NUCLEAR REACTION IN NANOSCALE ATOMIC CLUSTERS

摘要

We report preliminary results of experimental test of the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) mechanism for ultra low energy nuclear fusion in nano-scale atomic clusters at pressures up to a 20,000 psi and at both room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperatures. BEC of integer-spin nuclei was suggested as a possible mechanism for ultra low-energy nuclear reaction in 1998. Recently, theoretical studies of the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) mechanism have been carried out by solving approximately many-body Schroedinger equation for a system of N identical charged integer-spin nuclei ("Bose" nuclei) confined in ion traps. The solution is used to obtain theoretical formulae for estimating the probabilities and rates of nuclear fusion for N identical Bose nuclei confined in an ion trap or an atomic cluster. These formulae show that the fusion rate does not depend on the Coulomb barrier penetration probability but instead depends on the probability of the ground-state occupation, which is expected to increase as the temperature decreases. To test these theoretical predictions, a series of experiments have been devised and performed. The preliminary results of these experiments and also plans of future experiments are described.