Synthesis of Silicon in the Interaction of Aluminum With a Quasi-Neutron and Estimation of the Contribution of the Aluminum Hydride Complex

Among the nuclear fusion reactions of new elements, the simplest reaction refers to the capture of a proton p by the nucleus of the original element ZXA with the formation of the Z + 1YA+1 nucleus (Z and A are the charge and mass number of the element X). In the case of cold fusion, the occurrence of such a reaction is associated with the existence of quasi-neutron (p + e) states in which the proton is “escorted” by the electron e: ZXA + (p + e) ! Z + 1YA+1 + e. For example the synthesis of zinc from copper was established. It is important to note that the ratios of the proportions of synthesized isotopes in most cases should differ significantly from natural ratios, which would certainly confirm their artificial origin. The data of preliminary mass spectrometric measurements for the synthesis of zinc from copper, gallium from zinc, and rhenium from tungsten are consistent with this conclusion. However, for relatively heavy elements, the masses of daughter atoms with Z + 1YA+1 nuclei are difficult to distinguish from the masses of hydride complexes of parent atoms with ZXA nuclei and hydrogen atoms H formed in the course of mass spectrometric measurements. In this regard, the problem of estimating the contributions of daughter atoms and hydride complexes is topical. The solution of this problem was carried out for the case of silicon synthesis from aluminum. In an air environment with water vapor, an electric arc was ignited between an aluminum anode and a tungsten cathode. Aluminum has one stable isotope 13Al27; therefore, the synthesis of only one of the three stable silicon isotopes 14Si28 was expected, which was observed in the mass spectrum of the powder formed on the anode surface (peak at ⇡ 27.977 a.m.u.). The AlH complex corresponds to a peak at ⇡ 27.989 a.m.u. This peak has a height approximately 2.5 times less than the height of the peak for the mass distribution of silicon atoms. Thus, the relatively low intensity for the mass distribution of the AlH complex suggests that it is the isotope ratios of the synthesized daughter nuclei that make the main contributions to the observed isotope mass ratios in the cases of parent atoms having several stable isotopes.