We conclude that in the process of disrupting a neutron back to its original positrons and electrons in the free state, the volume increases by a factor in excess of ten billion. In analogy with the general gas laws, expansion against forces of cohesion is a cooling process. Since these forces exist in terms of positron-electron attraction, any process which disrupts basic matter must result in cooling. In any practical application total separation back to original components cannot be expected, but the process of cooling must be present. In the realm of nuclear energy, the equivalent laws apply.
Fusion is the equivalent of compression in the release of heat.
The reverse of fusion is the nuclear disruption process which, by its very nature must absorb thermal energy. In the event that the disruption was instigated by cooling in the first place, the basis of a self-sustained reaction exists. The present concept of a solid is that of the extreme case of a fluid in which the viscosity is so great that the molecules are bound in place by mutual forces acting between them. Thermal agitations are present so that the molecules vibrate in a more or less elastic manner around the position in which they are bound. In case of a gas, the molecules are free to move within the structure under the action of thermal agitation.