Deuterium-deuterium nuclear cross-sections in insulator and metallic environments

TL;DR

This paper uses the Thomas-Fermi model to simulate how the nuclear cross-section of deuterium-deuterium reactions varies in different environments, comparing results with experiments and discussing discrepancies.

Contribution

It applies the Thomas-Fermi model to low-energy d+d reactions in metallic and insulator environments, highlighting its partial success and limitations.

Findings

The TF model explains some increase in cross-section in metallic environments.

Discrepancies between model predictions and experimental data remain.

Discussion of possible reasons for the remaining differences.

Abstract

The three-dimensional Thomas-Fermi (TF) model is used to simulate the variation of the d+d to t + p cross-section at low impact energies, when the target deuterium nucleus is embedded in metallic or insulator environments. Comparison of the computational results to recent experiments demonstrates that even though the TF model can explain some increase in the low energy cross section for metallic host, a full explanation of the experimental results is still lacking. Possible reasons for the disagreement are discussed.