J. Condensed Matter Nucl. Sci. 13 (2014) 615–623
Research Article
On Problems of Widom–Larsen Theory Applicability to
Analysis and Explanation of Rossi Experiments
Vladimir Vysotskii
∗
Kiev National Shevchenko University, Kiev, Ukraine
Abstract
The effectiveness and possibility of application of Widom–Larsen (W–L) theory for explanation of Rossi experiments on stimulation
of (p, Ni
A
) low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR) is analyzed. The carried out analysis has shown thatW–L theory, which is connected
with the inverse reaction of beta-decay in variable electric field of surface plasmon in metal hydride, is unsuitable for the description
and explanation of Rossi experiments in metal hydrides.
© 2014 ISCMNS. All rights reserved. ISSN 2227-3123
Keywords: Inverse beta-decay, LENR, Ponderomotive force, Rossi experiments,Widom–Larsen theory
1. Introduction
Theoretical explanation of important Rossi–Focardi (R–F) experiments (e.g. [1,2]) is usually associated with Widom–
Larsen (W–L) theory (see [3–8]).
The general scenario of such theory includes three consecutive steps.
• Process of increase of electron mass with m
e
> 0 by “dressed up” effect and formation of slow heavy
electrons by ponderomotive nonlinear action of variable electric field of surface plasmon;
• Transformations of protons, which are situated in the form of monoatomic hydrogen layer on Ni surface, into
slow neutrons in inverse reaction of beta-decay
˜ e
-
+ p → n + ν, ˜ m
e
≡ m
e
+ E/c
2
,
E = m
e
c
2
> |Q
e
-
p
|, Q
e
-
p
≈-0.78 MeV (1)
with the help of “dressed up” heavy electrons. For realization of such reaction the variable electric field
|E( r,t)|
max
≥|E( r,t)|
thresh
≈ 3 × 10
10
V/cm is needed [1,2].
∗
E-mail: vivysotskii@gmail.com
© 2014 ISCMNS. All rights reserved. ISSN 2227-3123