Condensed matter nuclear science (cold fusion): an update

摘要

Seventeen years after the announcement by Professors Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann of the discovery of cold fusion in March 1989, the scientific community does not acknowledge this field as a genuine scientific research theme. However, the scientific demonstration of cold fusion was made long ago by showing the evidence of excess heat production in electrolytic cells and other devices. Also, nuclear ashes have been observed, mainly the formation of helium-4 along with the production of excess heat. What makes this field difficult to accept is the lack of the usual particle emission observed in nuclear science or high-energy physics. In some instances low-level neutron production, X-ray emission and transmutation of elements have been measured. At this point there is no satisfactory theory explaining the unique characteristics of condensed matter nuclear science. Many models have been proposed, several of them using textbook physics.