Chiral catalysis of nuclear fusion in molecules

Kharzeev, Dmitri E.; Levitt, Jacob

doi:10.1142/s0218301324500356

Title: Chiral catalysis of nuclear fusion in molecules

Journal Article · 17 September 2024 · International Journal of Modern Physics E

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/s0218301324500356 · OSTI ID:2460444

^[1];

^[2]

Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Cortex Fusion Systems, Inc., New York, NY (United States)

At low energies, nuclear fusion is strongly affected by electron screening of the Coulomb repulsion among the fusing nuclei. It may thus be possible to catalyze nuclear fusion in molecules (i.e., to fuse specific nuclei in situ) through quantum control of electron wave functions in intense laser fields. The circularly polarized (chiral) laser field can effectively squeeze the electron wave functions, greatly enhancing the screening in the spatial region relevant for the fusion process. Here, we estimate the corresponding fusion probabilities, and find that the proposed chiral catalysis of nuclear fusion in molecules may be observable, potentially with important practical applications.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 2460444

Report Number(s):: BNL--226226-2024-JAAM

Journal Information:: International Journal of Modern Physics E, Journal Name: International Journal of Modern Physics E Journal Issue: 08 Vol. 33; ISSN 0218-3013

Publisher:: World ScientificCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (21)

Effects of electron screening on low-energy fusion cross sections Assenbaum, H. J.; Langanke, K.; Rolfs, C. Zeitschrift f�r Physik A Atomic Nuclei, Vol. 327, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01289572	journal	December 1987
Zur Quantentheorie des Atomkernes Gamow, G. Zeitschrift f�r Physik, Vol. 51, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01343196	journal	March 1928
Nuclear reactions and screened-coulomb fusion rates Hale, G. M.; Smith, R. D.; Talley, T. L. Journal of Fusion Energy, Vol. 9, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02627583	journal	June 1990
Effects of electron screening on the 3He(d, p)4He low-energy cross sections Engstler, S.; Krauss, A.; Neldner, K. Physics Letters B, Vol. 202, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0370-2693(88)90003-2	journal	March 1988
Hypothetical Alternative Energy Sources for the ‘Second Meson’ Events Frank, F. C. Nature, Vol. 160, Issue 4068 https://doi.org/10.1038/160525a0	journal	October 1947
Calculated fusion rates in isotopic hydrogen molecules Koonin, S. E.; Nauenberg, M. Nature, Vol. 339, Issue 6227 https://doi.org/10.1038/339690a0	journal	June 1989
Inertial-confinement fusion with lasers Betti, R.; Hurricane, O. A. Nature Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3736	journal	May 2016
Magnetic-confinement fusion Ongena, J.; Koch, R.; Wolf, R. Nature Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3745	journal	May 2016
Electron Screening and Thermonuclear Reactions Salpeter, Ee Australian Journal of Physics, Vol. 7, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1071/PH540373	journal	January 1954
Muon catalysed fusion Ponomarev, L. I. Contemporary Physics, Vol. 31, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1080/00107519008222019	journal	July 1990
Tunneling through Coulombic barriers: quantum control of nuclear fusion Saha, Rajdeep; Markmann, Andreas; Batista, Victor S. Molecular Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 9-10 https://doi.org/10.1080/00268976.2012.679635	journal	May 2012
The shift of atomic states by laser fields Gersten, J. I.; Mittleman, M. H. Journal of Physics B: Atomic and Molecular Physics, Vol. 9, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3700/9/15/008	journal	October 1976
Rydberg electron dynamics in high-frequency elliptically polarized microwave fields Oks, Eugene; Davis, Jon E.; Uzer, Turgay Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Vol. 33, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/33/2/307	journal	January 2000
Catalysis of Nuclear Reactions byμMesons Alvarez, L. W.; Bradner, H.; Crawford, F. S. Physical Review, Vol. 105, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.105.1127	journal	February 1957
Radiative distortion of the hydrogen atom in superintense, high-frequency fields of linear polarization Pont, M.; Walet, N. R.; Gavrila, M. Physical Review A, Vol. 41, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.41.477	journal	January 1990
Intense field stabilization in circular polarization: Three-dimensional time-dependent dynamics Choi, Dae-Il; Chism, Will Physical Review A, Vol. 66, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.66.025401	journal	August 2002
One- and two-electron atomic screening in fusion reactions Shoppa, T. D.; Koonin, S. E.; Langanke, K. Physical Review C, Vol. 48, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.48.837	journal	August 1993
Synthesis of the Elements in Stars Burbidge, E. Margaret; Burbidge, G. R.; Fowler, William A. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 29, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.29.547	journal	October 1957
The absorption and emission spectra of HD in the vacuum ultraviolet Dabrowski, I.; Herzberg, G. Canadian Journal of Physics, Vol. 54, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1139/p76-060	journal	March 1976
Muon-Catalyzed Fusion Breunlich, W. H.; Kammel, P.; Cohen, J. S. Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science, Vol. 39, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ns.39.120189.001523	journal	December 1989
Screening Effects in Stars and in the Laboratory Aliotta, Marialuisa; Langanke, Karlheinz Frontiers in Physics, Vol. 10 https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2022.942726	journal	July 2022

Similar Records

Antiproton catalyzed fusion

Technical Report · 1995 · OSTI ID:95253

Morgan, Jr, D L; Perkins, L J; Haney, S W

Chiral photochemistry of achiral molecules

Journal Article · 2022 · Nature Communications · OSTI ID:1862761

Raucci, Umberto; Weir, Hayley; Bannwarth, Christoph; +2 more

Fusion rates for hydrogen isotopic molecules of relevance for cold fusion''

Journal Article · 1989 · Physical Review (Section) A: General Physics; (USA) · OSTI ID:5552263

Szalewicz, K; Morgan, III, J D; Monkhorst, H J

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
fusion catalysis
laser control
nuclear fusion

Title: Chiral catalysis of nuclear fusion in molecules

Citation Formats

References (21)

Similar Records

Related Subjects