DIRECT ACCELERATION OF NUCLEAR REACTIONS BY

INTENSE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS

H. R. Reiss

American University, Washington, DC, USA

Max Born Institute, Berlin, Germany

Abstract

A means of accelerating the rate of “forbidden” nuclear beta decay by the application of intense electromagnetic fields is presented. “Forbidden” beta decay is actually only inhibited because of the violation of quantum selection rules, but this inhibition can cause about a 10⁴ factor increase in lifetime for each degree of violation of the selection rule. It is proposed to use intense electromagnetic fields in a new domain of intensity not previously explored, as a way of altering the selection rules by external influences. The idea is presented, keeping in mind the possibility of practical application to the economical disposal of high-level radioactive waste. That is, the method must meet conditions of large-scale, continuous operation. The theoretical foundations for the proposal are presented, with emphasis on the novelty of the physical environment that must be created. Evidence is presented that the effect was actually observed in experiments done many years ago. Finally, the possibility of using the proposed mechanism to provide a primary source of energy is discussed. If this proves to be a practical possibility, the energy from highly forbidden beta decays would be abundant, and would be free of the objectionable features of other sources of nuclear energy.

Professor     Howard         Reiss E-mail: reiss@american.edu Phone: (202) 885-2749 Education: B.Ae.E., M.Ae.E., Polytechnic University: Ph.D. Physics, University of Maryland.

Professor Reiss' research interests are in the fundamental theory of the interaction of extremely strong electromagnetic fields with matter. One of his papers published more than thirty years ago was the first to develop strong-field non-perturbative techniques for the solution of physical problems. It thus marked the beginning of what is now a major field of research. Since then, he has studied the effects of strong fields in elementary particle physics, and in nuclear, atomic, and solid-state systems. In particular, he has applied some of his basic theories of strong-field interactions to the problem of the modification of nuclear radioactivity. He has given more than one hundred invited talks at prestigious institutions and at international conferences. Professor Reiss' research has been published in the Physical Review in Sections A, B, C, D, and Letters, as well as in many other major physics journals. The Science Citations Index lists well over 1,000 citations of his papers. His book "Radiative Process in Atomic Physics", co-authored with Professors Krainov and Smirnov of Moscow, has been published recently by John Wiley & Sons. In addition to his position at American University, Professor Reiss was a Research Professor at the University of Arizona and at the Arizona Research Laboratories, and was the Head of the Nuclear Physics Division of the Naval Ordnance Laboratory. He was a Long-Term Visitor at the Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and served as a Consultant to the Los Alamos National Laboratory and to the Amoco Corporation. He has been Principal Investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation, from the Department of Energy, and from private industry. Professor Reiss is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.