Stau-catalyzed Nuclear Fusion

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of long-lived staus to catalyze nuclear fusion, specifically deuteron-deuteron fusion, potentially releasing significant energy, but faces technological challenges for practical application.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of stau-catalyzed nuclear fusion and analyzes its energy release potential and technological feasibility.

Findings

One chain of d d fusion can release about 10 GeV per stau.

Fusion enhancement occurs due to short inter-deuteron distances.

Practical use is limited by current stau production technology.

Abstract

We point out that the stau may play a role of a catalyst for nuclear fusions if the stau is a long-lived particle as in the scenario of gravitino dark matter. In this letter, we consider d d fusion under the influence of stau where the fusion is enhanced because of a short distance between the two deuterons. We find that one chain of the d d fusion may release an energy of O(10) GeV per stau. We discuss problems of making the stau-catalyzed nuclear fusion of practical use with the present technology of producing stau.