Fusion Definition and 834 Threads

I am a Rutgers and NJIT-educated professor of Physics, now under contract to Farmingdale State College and Nassau Community College, with other recent assignments at LIU Post and the BOCES Regional STEM High School. I embarked on doctoral-level studies in 2010 at Stony Brook University in their...

As someone who has had an interest in the potential outcome of various scientific en-devours, I have weighed potential outcomes of things that interest people to be good to potential outcomes they may not have yet seen as being bad. I wonder if anyone has asked the questions about how our...

I was unsure whether or not to post this question here or in the Nuclear physics sub-section, but it's a relatively simple question: Given that quantum tunneling exists, would it be possible to produce infinite energy via repeated nuclear fusion reactions? Now given the second law of...

This question occurred to me as a result of the discussion in the thread https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/brown-dwarf-minimum-mass.919669. Apparently (1) H+H->D+e+ requires a temperature of >10,000,000 K while (2) H+D->3He requires only about 1,000,000 K. I confess that the references for...

Fusion is, in most cases (stars, etc.), considered probabilistic. The Gamow-Sommerfeld factor is used to calculate the probability that two colliding nuclei will undergo fusion, considering the fact that the particles have a chance of fusing by quantum tunneling. However, one can calculate an...

Consider a system in which a non-plasma fluid (eg, gas, liquid, or supercritical fluid) consisting of a single isotope (for example, deuterium would be in the form of the D2 molecule) is struck with a small atom, stripped of all electrons. This atom also has a large amount of energy, enough to...

What requirements must a target of gaseous (at STP) meet to participate as the target in beam-target fusion, besides the obvious requirement that the target be a pure (research grade) sample of the desired target material? If a sufficiently fast (hundreds of KeV for the various hydrogen fusion...

Hi, I have been doing my own personal fusion research for almost a year now and I recently began looking into the various fusion fuel cycles other than D-T and D-D. The cycle that I'm interested in is P-P fusion, I'm aware that this method is inefficient for energy production, however, it seems...

I've been reading all I can google about fusion for several months now, both to write better spaceship drives and to better understand the fusion start-ups who promise to bring this planet-saving technology online far sooner than the government's (deliberately?) time- and money-wasting...

Hi, I would like to ask you how to properly describe the Feynman diagram of the Vector Boson Fusion where the Higgs boson is produced. Two quarks scatters two vector bosons (that means boson W or Z) at some moment which influence each other and produce the Higgs boson. Is that right...

When two deuterons fuse, I understand they form an alpha particle in an excited state. Based on mass differences the fusion releases 23.85MeV, which is enough to eject a proton (19.81MeV) or a neutron (20.58MeV) from the alpha particle. It seems to prefer neutron emission, as this fusion is used...

Some experts claim that the technology to create pure fusion bombs already exists, although the resulting device wouldn't result in any real advantages over conventional explosives (source). Deuterium and tritium are also considered the most likely fuels for a fusion reactor. The deuterium...

A diprotium molecule might undergo tunnelling to fuse by two reactions: p+p→d+e++νe p+p+e→d+νe What is the half-life for the fusion of an isolated diprotium molecule in its ground state (vibrational and rotational)? Naturally big, but also naturally finite. And might be computed. An estimate...

Does anyone have any good recommendations for some introductory books on nuclear fusion that I can read from my phone?

So, I have a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communications (outside of US) and I wanted to pursue work in nuclear fusion so I had applied for an MS in nuclear engineering in the US. I have gotten admission in the University of Florida. Anyway, I was sharing this information elsewhere on...

Fusion reactor development has long interested me. From what little I know, Tri Alpha is unique as they plan to fuse boron and won't use their reactor as a glorified steam boiler. By fusing boron I believe they avoid producing neutrons. The downside is that requires a higher temperature than...

Hey guys, Do you have ideas on the current dollar amount spent on nuclear fusion research since it's Rutherfordian inception?

Magnetic mirrors were thought to be a viable solution for fusion power. But then, we found out that most of the plasma would simply escape. Is this right? So, then we realized that this method might not work. So after many years, Lockheed has come up with a similar model. Lockheeds model is...

If tokamaks were to be run continuously, somehow, then fusion would produce a lot of helium. But since the charge to mass ratio of helium is exactly the same as deuterium, both of them behave almost exactly he same in electric or magnetic fields. And tritium on the other hand has a lower charge...

I'm new to this so please correct me if I'm doing this wrong. I'm curious to know about what practical uses are there for nuclear fusion other than a green power source.? I've already seen a few readings and a video from a Michel fellow about how it works, and it's fascinating stuff I'm not much...

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/249809/why-only-light-nuclei-are-able-to-undergo-nuclear-fusion-not-heavy-nuclei Can anyone please explain me - what is similar between Nuclear fission & Nuclear fusion? Why are only light nuclei able to undergo nuclear fusion, not heavy nuclei? I am a...

I have read an article talking about material research in fusion. One part in the context is divided into three aspects about the material capable of using in a fusion power reactor. Material selection in the first wall and plasma-facing components are two of the aspects. But it does not mention...

I have the fundamental understanding of how tokamaks work. Now, why is it not ideal to confine plasmas using a z- or theta- pinch configurations?

Has any thinking be done in applying evolutionary programs (cellular automata with a purpose) to fusion. It would seem that the current methods that can be applied are few. Evolution, itself, has been described as the dumbest way of realizing the smartest methods of achieving its goals...

Recently, I was thinking about fusion and this thought struck my mind. In tokamaks, the plasma is heated to extremely high temperatures in order to supply enough energy to the ions for them to fuse. But since, the plasma follows a Boltzmann maxwell distribution curve,only a few ions have have...

Most Fusion reactors, and the leading ones like JET, use high temp. plasma and confine it. So, the plasma would approximate the Maxwell- Boltzmann distribution. This means that only a small portion of the plasma has enough energy to fuse. But, collisions are much more often, right? Since not all...

Hello. Where is come from the heat (about 17,59MeV) from reaction deuteron + tritium -> Alfa + netron + Q although sum of substrates's mass is greater than sum of products's mass?

Why does fission/fusion occur instead of alpha/beta/gamma radiation?

Am going to write a scientific report about nuclear fusion related to magnetic confinement in ITER. Please recommend me aspects worth writing and having many materials. Thanks in advance.

Good evening, I am new to this forum and do not have a strong physics background. So if my questions seem woefully inept please respond with a simple laymans answer. I understand that there are 2 basic ideas for fusion containment, and that the main 2 components of any successful fusion...

Recently watching a documentary about stars (how the universe works), I was wondering about two things. The first one is: how is it possible to have stars with such a wide range of sizes? As far as I understand, stars are created in swirling gas clouds, nebulae. When the accumulation of gas...

Hello, I would like to ask for a definition the grid loss problem for fusion in inertial confinement fusion methods using fusors, and what it involves. Also, it was to ask what the main solutions being currently researched are, as it is very difficult to find papers on this field. Many thanks...

Fusion energy is very efficient and clean,but it's very hard to achieve it.That's why I think that instead of wasting energy on starting the fusion reaction we could use nuclear fission to start the fusion reaction. It's a simple concept:just let more neutrons in the fission reaction. This will...

There are a number of fusion threads, but no ongoing coverage of progress in the space, which continues apace. It would be useful to maintain a summary of the current efforts and the high water mark performances achieved. Afaik, the rate of gain to date suggests that performance (measured by...

Homework Statement Why are stars hot? Homework Equations Non specifically, it's a conceptual question. The Attempt at a Solution I have always heard that stars are hot because (as a quick very basic example) stars are large collections of mass which collapse in on itself. Eventually the...

I was wondering if fusion based on positron-electron annihilation would be possible; my intuition tells me it is, but I'm not completely sure and wanted to consult this community. Essentially, I was wondering if a stream of positrons (ignoring the source and difficulty of production for a...

Usually people talk about magnetic confinement schemes or some such thing for fusion reactions presumably because the pressure and temperatures would vaporize/destroy all conceived material vessels too quickly. I would like to hear someone talk about the limits of materials in this realm. So...

I know fusion power is not economical but can a fusion reactor be used to eliminate nuclear waste (from old fission reactors)?Regards, JDM

Hi, I love learning, and from time to time I run into questions that google, local education institutes, and general information hunting at the library comes up fruitless. So to you physics forum I turn! About me - Father, husband, geek, techie, cancer survivor x2, retired soldier/IT...

I found this site very interesting. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161021133915.htm Date: October 21, 2016 Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Summary: Scientists and engineers recently made a leap forward in the pursuit of clean energy. The team set a new world record...

Wikipedia says that solar core has 15 millions of Kelvins ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_core ), what translates into ~1.4 keV energy per degree of freedom. For nuclear fusion we need to take the two nuclei to distance of range of nuclear forces: ~1fm (...

Hello! I hope that i am doing this right. This is my first post of a question. So, I've been reading about a design for a fusion reactor called a "Polywell". The Polywell, as I understand it, works by sending electron beams to the device's center which suck in protons/deuterium/tritium/etc. so...

So i did a lab were we melt an ice cube in water. So i have to find the heat of fusion for the ice cube. But i am not sure how to do that. What i was thinking of doing is finding the energy released by temperature of the ice cube increasing, then make that value of q, equal to m*hf, when it is...

I've been thinking... Is there any way that there could be sort of a one-time use pulse laser that uses something like a mini atomic bomb to create a super high energy laser? I found stuff about a Nuclear pumped laser and "Project Excalibur", but I wanted to ask actual people who know a lot...

Do you guys think fusion between humans would ever be possible? like two or more people fuse to form another person who is the sum of their parts. Do you think nanotechnology would make it possible?

I know that the accretion disk of a black hole gets hot enough for powerful emission of x-rays, but does that disk get hot enough for certain elements to fuse?

I'm having trouble understand a passage in our book. The author claims that the reaction ##^2H+^2H \to ^4He + \gamma## is unlikely since the ##Q## value is large (##23.8## MeV) which happens to be greater than both the neutron and proton separation energies. This seem very counter intuitive...

I know that to achieve fusion one has to satisfy the Lawson criterion. My question is: can fusion be achieved only by generating very high pressures but keeping the system at room temperature, or does it necessarily require a combination of both high pressures and high temperatures? If by some...

When 2 protons fuse in a star, does the fusion rely on how strong the gravitational pressure is from the star so it gets past the strong force so the nuclei fuse or the temperature because of the pressure or both?

Homework Statement Assuming that we could generate Australia's electricity from a fusion reactor, that converted hydrogen to iron and turned the energy into electricity with 100% efficiency, what mass of fuel would it use per year? You may assume that this fusion reaction converts 1% of the...