• Open Access

Nuclear fusion catalyzed by doubly charged scalars: Implications for energy production

Evgeny Akhmedov
Phys. Rev. D 106, 035013 – Published 12 August 2022

Abstract

A number of popular extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics predict the existence of doubly charged scalar particles X±±. Such particles may be long lived or even stable. If they exist, X could form atomic bound states with light nuclei and catalyze their fusion by essentially eliminating the Coulomb barrier between them. Such an X-catalyzed fusion (XCF) process does not require high temperatures or pressure and may have important applications for energy production. A similar process of muon-catalyzed fusion has been shown not to be a viable source of energy because of the sticking of negative muons to helium nuclei produced in the fusion of hydrogen isotopes, which stops the catalytic process. We analyze XCF in deuterium environments and show that the X particles can only stick to Li6 nuclei, which are produced in the third-stage reactions downstream in the catalytic cycle. The corresponding sticking probability is very low and, before getting bound to Li6, each X particle can catalyze 3.5×109 fusion cycles, producing 7×104TeV of energy. We also discuss the ways of reactivating the X particles from the Coulomb-bound (Li6X) states, which would allow reusing them in XCF reactions.

  • Received 13 October 2021
  • Accepted 15 July 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.035013

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Nuclear Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Evgeny Akhmedov*

  • Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

  • *akhmedov@mpi-hd.mpg.de

Article Text

Click to Expand

References

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 106, Iss. 3 — 1 August 2022

Reuse & Permissions
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review D

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

×

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×