冷核聚變是指常溫常壓下發生的核聚變反應的假說。冷核聚變不同於恆星內部、熱核武器實驗性聚變反應堆中高溫、高壓的「熱」核聚變,也不包括常溫的μ子催化聚變(1950年代就已證實,但不具實用價值)。目前,並不存在被主流物理學共識接受的冷核聚變理論或現象。

馬丁·弗萊許曼實驗裝置

1989年,電化學家馬丁·弗萊施曼英語Martin Fleischmann斯坦利·龐斯英語Stanley Pons報告稱其實驗裝置出現反常放熱(「餘熱」)現象,聲稱其數量級無法依靠化學反應解釋,唯一的可能性是核反應[1]兩人在論文中進一步報告稱,實驗檢測到少量中子等核反應副產物。[2]此外,該實驗較簡單,僅是一個發生於電極表面的的重水電解實驗,可以使用小型電解裝置在實驗室桌面上進行。[3]本研究受到了媒體的廣泛關注[3],引發了人們對低成本清潔能源的遐想。[4]

但是,該實驗未能被其他科學家成功復現。起初大量實驗者報告復現失敗,少數「成功」的實驗者也撤回主張;隨後,人們指出最初實驗中有許多可導致實驗錯誤的漏洞;最終,人們意識到兩人根本沒有檢測到所謂的核反應副產物。[4][5][6][7]清潔能源的希望也因此破滅。時至1989年末,大多數科學家認為「冷核聚變說」已死。[4][7][8][9][10]隨後,冷核聚變普遍被認為是一種病態科學英語Pathological science[11][12]1989年美國能源部調查報告認為,實驗者報告的餘熱現象並非有用能源的確鑿證據,不應向冷核聚變提供研究經費。2004年,美國能源部發布了審評近期研究的第二輪報告,依然沒有改變最初的結論。[13][14][15]目前,冷核聚變研究很少能發表在經同行審評的期刊中,其研究所受到的審視低於主流科學研究。[9][16]

少數研究者依然相信冷核聚變存在可能。例如,谷歌公司在2019年資助了一項冷核聚變實驗,並在《自然》期刊上發表論文,但該實驗未能復現馬丁·弗萊施曼和斯坦利·龐斯的實驗結果。[17][18]為避免「冷核聚變」一詞的負面聯繫,該領域研究者將其稱為低能量核反應Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, LENR)與凝態態核科學Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, CMNS),這個邊緣科學群體仍在繼續開展研究。[4][19][20][21][22][23][24]

歷史

編輯

冷核融合為大眾所週知起因於1989年3月「弗萊許曼-龐斯實驗」的爭議性——由科學家馬丁·弗萊許曼(Martin Fleischmann)與史坦利·龐斯(Stanley Pons)所進行。當時有許多科學家努力重複該實驗,卻發現無法再現一樣的結果[25]。人們對冷聚變最大的責難集中在其實驗的低重複性和核反應產物不匹配兩點上。[26]

2008年,日本大阪大學物理學教授荒田吉明宣稱完成第一次成功冷融合示範。在實驗中,荒田吉明使進入一個包含鈀與鋯氧化物之混合物中,在這種稠密的狀態下,來自於不同原子的氘原子核融合產生氦原子核。

2011年,義大利波隆納大學(University of Bologna)物理系的科學家安卓·羅西(Andrea Rossi)與Sergio Focardi宣布已成功利用能源催化劑(Energy Catalyzer )引發冷核融合反應,但尚未普遍得到其他科學家證實。

參考資料

編輯
  1. ^ 60 Minutes: Once Considered Junk Science, Cold Fusion Gets A Second Look By Researchers, CBS, 17 April 2009, (原始內容存檔於12 February 2012) 
  2. ^ Fleischmann & Pons 1989,第301頁 ("It is inconceivable that this [amount of heat] could be due to anything but nuclear processes... We realise that the results reported here raise more questions than they provide answers...")
  3. ^ 3.0 3.1 Voss, David, What Ever Happened to Cold Fusion, Physics World, 1 March 1999a, 12 (3): 12–14 [1 May 2008], ISSN 0953-8585, doi:10.1088/2058-7058/12/3/14, (原始內容存檔於2008-07-01) 
  4. ^ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Browne, M., Physicists Debunk Claim Of a New Kind of Fusion, The New York Times, 3 May 1989 [25 May 2008], (原始內容存檔於2006-11-15) 
  5. ^ Close, Frank E., Too Hot to Handle: The Race for Cold Fusion 2, London: Penguin, 1992, ISBN 978-0-14-015926-4 
  6. ^ Huizenga, John R., Cold Fusion: The Scientific Fiasco of the Century 2, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, ISBN 978-0-19-855817-0 
  7. ^ 7.0 7.1 Taubes, Gary, Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion, New York: Random House, 1993, ISBN 978-0-394-58456-0 
  8. ^ Kean, Sam, Palladium: The Cold Fusion Fanatics Can't Get Enough of the Stuff, Slate, 26 July 2010 [31 July 2011], (原始內容存檔於2011-09-08) 
  9. ^ 9.0 9.1 Goodstein, David, Whatever happened to cold fusion?, American Scholar, 1994, 63 (4): 527–541 [25 May 2008], ISSN 0003-0937, (原始內容存檔於16 May 2008) 
  10. ^ Van Noorden, R., Cold fusion back on the menu, Chemistry World, April 2007 [25 May 2008], ISSN 1473-7604, (原始內容存檔於2016-06-03) 
  11. ^ Chang, Kenneth, US will give cold fusion a second look, The New York Times, 25 March 2004 [8 February 2009], (原始內容存檔於2022-05-24) 
  12. ^ Ouellette, Jennifer, Could Starships Use Cold Fusion Propulsion?, Discovery News, 23 December 2011, (原始內容存檔於7 January 2012) 
  13. ^ US DOE, U.S. Department of Energy, Report of the Review of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (PDF) (報告), Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, 2004 [19 July 2008], (原始內容 (PDF)存檔於26 February 2008) 
  14. ^ Choi, Charles, Back to Square One, Scientific American, 2005 [25 November 2008], (原始內容存檔於2013-11-03) 
  15. ^ Feder, Toni, Cold Fusion Gets Chilly Encore, Physics Today, January 2005, 58 (1): 31 [2022-05-18], Bibcode:2005PhT....58a..31F, doi:10.1063/1.1881896, (原始內容存檔於2008-12-01) 
  16. ^ Labinger, JA; Weininger, SJ, Controversy in chemistry: how do you prove a negative?—the cases of phlogiston and cold fusion, Angew Chem Int Ed Engl, 2005, 44 (13): 1916–22, PMID 15770617, doi:10.1002/anie.200462084, So there matters stand: no cold fusion researcher has been able to dispel the stigma of 'pathological science' by rigorously and reproducibly demonstrating effects sufficiently large to exclude the possibility of error (for example, by constructing a working power generator), nor does it seem possible to conclude unequivocally that all the apparently anomalous behavior can be attributed to error. 
  17. ^ Koziol, Michael. Whether Cold Fusion or Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions, U.S. Navy Researchers Reopen Case. IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. 22 March 2021 [2021-03-23]. (原始內容存檔於2021-07-20) (英語). 
  18. ^ Berlinguette, C.P., Chiang, YM., Munday, J.N. et al. Revisiting the cold case of cold fusion. Nature 570, 45–51 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1256-6
  19. ^ Broad, William J., Despite Scorn, Team in Utah Still Seeks Cold-Fusion Clues, The New York Times, 31 October 1989: C1 [2022-05-18], (原始內容存檔於2022-05-24) 
  20. ^ Goodstein 1994, Platt 1998, Voss 1999a, Beaudette 2002, Feder 2005, Adam 2005 "Advocates insist that there is just too much evidence of unusual effects in the thousands of experiments since Pons and Fleischmann to be ignored", Kruglinski 2006, Van Noorden 2007, Alfred 2009. Daley 2004 calculates between 100 and 200 researchers, with damage to their careers.
  21. ^ 'Cold fusion' rebirth? New evidence for existence of controversial energy source, American Chemical Society, (原始內容存檔於21 December 2014) 
  22. ^ Hagelstein, Peter L.; McKubre, Michael; Nagel, David; Chubb, Talbot; Hekman, Randall, New Physical Effects in Metal Deuterides (PDF), Condensed Matter Nuclear Science. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Cold Fusion. Held 31 October-5 November 2004 in Marseilles 11, 2004: 23, Bibcode:2006cmns...11...23H, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.233.5518 , ISBN 9789812566409, doi:10.1142/9789812774354_0003, (原始內容 (PDF)存檔於6 January 2007),  |journal=被忽略 (幫助)
  23. ^ ICMNS FAQ. International Society of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science. (原始內容存檔於3 November 2015). 
  24. ^ Biberian, Jean-Paul, Condensed Matter Nuclear Science (Cold Fusion): An Update (PDF), International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2007, 3 (1): 31–42, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.618.6441 , doi:10.1504/IJNEST.2007.012439, (原始內容存檔 (PDF)於30 May 2008) 
  25. ^ APS Special Session on Cold Fusion, May 1-2, 1989. [2006-11-22]. (原始內容存檔於2007-03-11). 
  26. ^ http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/viewarticle.php?sid=1348&st=40[永久失效連結]

延伸閱讀

編輯

報導與評論

編輯

期刊與書籍

編輯

Websites and repositories

編輯

新聞

編輯

1980年代

編輯

1990年代

編輯

2000年代

編輯

書目

編輯
  • Krivit, Steven ; Winocur, Nadine. The Rebirth of Cold Fusion: Real Science, Real Hope, Real Energy. Los Angeles, CA, Pacific Oaks Press, 2004 ISBN 0-9760545-8-2.
  • Charles Beaudette|Beaudette, Charles. Excess Heat: Why Cold Fusion Research Prevailed, 2nd. Ed. South Bristol, ME, Oak Grove Press, 2002. ISBN 0-9678548-3-0.
  • Robert L. Park|Park, Robert L. Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-513515-6. It gives a thorough account of cold fusion and its history which represents the perspective of the mainstream scientific community.
  • Mizuno, Tadahiko. Nuclear Transmutation: The Reality of Cold Fusion. Concord, N.H.: Infinite Energy Press, 1998. ISBN 1-892925-00-1.
  • Taubes, Gary. Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion. New York, N.Y. : Random House, 1993. ISBN 0-394-58456-2.
  • Huizenga, John R. Cold Fusion: The Scientific Fiasco of the Century. Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press, 1992. ISBN 1-878822-07-1; ISBN 0-19-855817-1. Huizenga was co-chair of the 1989 DOE panel set up to investigate the Pons/Fleischmann experiment
  • Close, Frank E..Too Hot to Handle: The Race for Cold Fusion. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1991. ISBN 0-691-08591-9; ISBN 0-14-015926-6.
  • Mallove, Eugene Fire from Ice: Searching for the Truth Behind the Cold Fusion Furor. Concord, N.H.: Infinite Energy Press, 1991. ISBN 1-892925-02-8. It's an early account from the pro-cold-fusion perspective.