“All that I can say, from the viewpoint of a chemist, trained
originally in Organic Chemistry, is that my first response to hearing
about "Cold Fusion" was, "Sure, why not?! Looks to me like an
'isomerization' of D:D to Helium 4. A rare, high-energy vibration of
D:D and a state of Helium 4 could have instantaneous physical
identity but different 'Energy' content, so there would be no
stabilization to the Helium 4 unless there were an 'Energy Sink'
available which could absorb the Energy Difference. The Palladium
Lattice, with a myriad of Energy levels available, would seem to
qualify as the necessary 'Energy Sink.' "
At that time, several years ago, the correspondence of heat produced
to He4 produced was not yet shown. I have had no reason to change my
guess that the process is simply an isomerization between DD and He4,
or possibly between DD+ and He4+. which is able to take place because
there is a suitable "Energy Sink" available in the Palladium lattice.
This explanation is, of course, speculative; but, might make sense to
chemists, especially organic chemists such as myself, who are more
likely to think in physical terms than in mathematical."
I wander what chemists think about this explanation.
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Ludwik Kowalski, a retired physics teacher and an amateur journalist.
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