Possible Explanation of ⁴He Production in a Pd/D₂ System by the TNCF Model

Abstract

Experimental data showing generation of ⁴He from a Pd sheet-D₂ gas system observed by E. Botta et al. are analyzed by the trapped neutron catalyzed fusion (TNCF) model. The proposed mechanism of ⁴He generation is not the direct d-d reaction but the reactions between the trapped neutron and a Pd isotope, n-₄₆^APd reactions, with a supplemental assumption, decrease of threshold energies for (n,α) reactions of ₄₆^APd in solids. The arbitrary parameter n_n, the density of the trapped neutron, of the model is determined to be ~10¹² cm^-3, which is consistent with values determined in analyses of data in various events in the cold fusion phenomenon.