Exact upper bound on barrier penetration probabilities in many-body systems: Application to ‘‘cold fusion’’

A. J. Leggett and G. Baym
Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 191 – Published 10 July 1989
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Abstract

The rate of tunneling of nuclei to classically forbidden small relative separation, in a fully interacting quantum-mechanical many-body system in equilibrium, is rigorously bounded above by a value calculable in terms of the Born-Oppenheimer potential between the nuclei. In the ‘‘cold-fusion’’ problem, the bound can be related to the affinities of helium and deuterium atoms to the metal in question, and shows that the allowed rate of tunneling of deuterons is far too small to be consistent with inferred rates of fusion.

  • Received 4 May 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.63.191

©1989 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. J. Leggett and G. Baym

  • Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801

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Vol. 63, Iss. 2 — 10 July 1989

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