Search for Multibody Nuclear Reactions in Metal Deuteride Induced with Ion Beam and Electrolysis Methods

We report here the experimental results suggesting the occurrence of multibody nuclear reactions in metal deuterides under ion-beam irradiation and electrolysis. A meaningful increase of helium-4 was observed during electrolysis with the Pd–D2O system, while neutron emission was not observed. The D+D+D fusion, 3D→t+3He+9.5 MeV, has been observed repeatedly in deuteron-beam irradiation experiments with a TiDx target. On the other hand, in proton-beam experiments with TiDx, H+D+D-fusion: H+D+D→p+4He+23.8 MeV was observed. Considering this result, it seems that the 3D reaction occurred between two deuterons trapped closely in TiDx and an incident particle of deuteron. The multibody nuclear reaction model can interpret both the results obtained in electrolysis and ion-beam experiments. It is considered that the lattice dynamics of metal deuteride is of key importance for inducing short-transient and closely packed d–d pairs and, thus, such fusions.