Reddit reviews Modern Nuclear Chemistry

Commenting to come back after math.

Math:

Let's look at the math for the following superheavy synthesis reaction: Am-243(C-12,4n)Md-251. An atom of Am-243 is hit by a C-12 atom, and undergoes a "fusion-evaporation" reaction which yields Md-251 and ejects 4 neutrons. (Note: the 5n and 6n reactions, yielding Md-250 and -249 are also possible, according to Eskola PRC 7 (1973) 280.) To potentially cause fusion requires overcoming the Coulomb repulsion due to the positive charges of the nuclei, which repel each other. According to a spreadsheet which I have developed from equations in "Modern Nuclear Chemistry", it appears that for every fusion reaction, you require at least 56.7 MeV (the energy equivalent of 56.7 million electrons being accelerated through a 1-Volt potential), or 9.08434 pJ (pico-Joules = 1*10^(-12) Joules). This is equivalent to 4.61*10^14 molecules of TNT being exploded - this is a very small amount (about 1/10millionth of a paper clip), but a very large amount of energy for one atom to be formed.

I'm using the HyperPhysics Calculator so I don't make any simple math errors. For a particle with mass 12x a proton (C-12), to have a relativistic energy of 56.7*10^6 eV requires it to be traveling 0.09997*c, or ~1/10th the speed of light. Given the mind-boggling speeds encountered by matter near black holes, this isn't impossible.

Here's why it wouldn't happen in detectable amounts:
Let's assume that the black hole in Hercules A is our model. It emits (randomly) matter out of the two ends over billions of square kilometer. The odds of a head-on collision are incredibly small. The odds of hitting with an energetic enough but not-too-powerful carbon atom are impossibly small. Even if they do hit head-on, the odds are very small that they interact. In nuclear science, we use a unit called "barns" to determine the probability of interaction, which is nominally related to area units of cm^2. 1 barn = 1*10^(-24) cm^2; the sum of all C+Am=Md interactions is equal to 4.8*10^(-6) barns, or like throwing a dart and precisely hitting an area 4.8*10^(-30) cm^2, just right. Given an infinite time-scale, it may happen once or twice, but it would be individual atoms rather than grams in the entire universe.

Your opinion is wrong. None of these references show any evidence whatsoever that cold fusion is a real phenomenon. Here are some references for where you can read about real nuclear physics:

• Physical Review Letters
  
  
• Nature
  
  
• Physical Review C
  
  
• Nuclear Instruments and Methods
  
  
• arXiv nucl-ex
  
  
• arXiv nucl-th
  
  
• Blatt and Weisskopf
  
  
• Krane
  
  
• Loveland, Seaborg, and Morrissey
  
  
• Leo
  
  
• Knoll
  
  
• Bertulani