From: crb7q@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Cameron Randale Bass)
Newsgroups: sci.physics.fusion
Subject: Mindlessness for the Day
Keywords: sonoluminescence
Date: 26 Aug 92 16:06:31 GMT
Organization: University of Virginia
Originator: crb7q@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU


     "Theoretical explanations for this phenomenon, especially
      as regards the fast time scales, is lacking.  Here we have
      reported that the spectral peak lies at photon energies which
      are higher than those required to dissociate the molecules
      comprising the medium in which energy concentration occurs."
      (Phys. Rev. Lett. 69:1182 (1992))

      I was reading along in an article on sonoluminescence and
      it occured to me that we could postulate a similar mechanism
      (unknown, of course) for 'anomalous phenomena in metal hydrides'.
      After all, with sonoluminescence we have cavities (bubbles)
      in which very strong (actually, miraculously strong) concentration
      of acoustical energy occurs.  In the above quoted experiment,
      field average sound energy level is about 10^-11 eV/atom and
      the spectral peak is somewhere above 6 eV (Could be far above.
      They report the spectrum to fit the tail of a 25000K blackbody,
      though there is no reason to assume an equilibrium process 
      at all.).

      They thus find at least 12 orders of magnitude concentration
      of the imposed sound field, concentrations that actually seem 
      implausible since the medium dissociates below these energies.

      In any case, for the Pd-D system, one could hypothesize that the
      relevant cavities are the interstitial sites and that the relevant
      excitation is the higher-order fluctuations of the power supply.
      These are, of course, increased in transient operation.

      Now I am of two minds about what follows next in this fantasy.
      The first thought is that the cavities are picking out very 
      high frequency components from the power supply forcing, thereby
      concentrating energy deposition in the lattice (the cavities
      in sonoluminescence do this rather well).  Thus, the whole phenomenon
      would be nothing more than the relatively efficient concentration 
      of high or extremely high frequency excitations unnoticed otherwise. 

      The second thought is that the cavities act to concentrate 
      such 'vibrations' in such a manner as to cause Deuterium ions
      occupying the same interstitial site to fuse (or even Pd and
      D, recalling some vaguely interesting results from a conference
      past).  Of course, this sidesteps the necessity of a second miracle to 
      unconcentrate the energies in such a manner as to avoid easy detection 
      of the gammas and particles that should scream out of the lattice.
      However, for the sake of the argument, we can assume 
      that the 'unconcentration' mechanism is the reverse of the 
      miraculous 'concentration' mechanism seen in sonoluminescence.

      So, something for the 'believers' in the crowd and something for
      the 'disbelievers', take your pick.

      I'm sure y'all will pardon me while I go down to the patent office
      to file another of dubious worth.

                                  dale bass
-- 
C. R. Bass                                           crb7q@virginia.edu
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia                            (804) 924-7926
Newsgroups: sci.physics.fusion