As far as I understand, the condensation energy (9.4 eV/atom at most for RM composed of H atoms in the lowest state, see here) of RM clusters only depends on the excitation level regardless of which molecule or atom they are formed from.
This table below is from a 2010 review on Rydberg matter. It's valid for all RM clusters that can reach the listed excitation levels.
http://doi.org/10.1007/s10876-011-0417-z
The ultra-dense state is only accessible by H RM in the lowest excitation level.
can , do you happen to know the possible principal quantum numbers of H or D RM?
According to the information above high principal quantum numbers indeed could be causing very high current density levels.
Apparently RM of H or D de-excites quickly and it is typically observed with values of n=1–3 around the "emitter". The lowest energy level is [nowadays] associated with UDH.
Text below from https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/16/39/034 (left) and diagram from https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3514985 (right)
RM of K appears to have been typically been observed with considerably higher values (n=40–80 in desorption and 10–20 typically), possibly also due to generally different experimental conditions.
Infrared photons can re-excite RM to high levels, which is also mentioned in Svensson's thesis (screenshot below) and in Holmlid's papers.
Edit: Would it be thinkable that in a relative high principal quantum number could be derived from exiting UDD to D RM and back?
I think that's unlikely according to the explanations provided so far. UDH appears to be associated (change to/from) with the lowest energy form of ordinary RM.
By the way, since it makes little sense to refer to RM without also implying that the azimuthal quantum number ℓ is at its limit (n - 1), i.e. in a circular state, currently RM is referred to by ℓ rather than the special definition of n used years ago.
E.g. read from Ultradense protium p(0) and deuterium D(0) and their relation to ordinary Rydberg matter: a review
Quote[...] In RM, the electrons are best described as being in Bohr orbits, with just one good quantum number namely l and having a classical time dependence. This means that n is replaced by l. In the lowest Bohr orbit with radius a0, angular momentum is l = 1.
Also see Svensson's doctoral thesis on the subject here:
A novel thermionic energy converter concept
https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/14481
Would this hint at Aureon and/or even (dare I say) Rossi?
In theory, RM at high excitation levels may give a work function so low that even at room temperatures the thermionic current density would be enormous, but this has never been actually demonstrated in practice.
Work function of Rydberg matter surfaces from jellium calculations
https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-6028(94)90533-9
I don't know to what extent this particular [theoretical] aspect of RM is related to claims and observations by the various groups working with plasma-based LENR systems, though. It wouldn't require hydrogen and it would be more easily seen with alkali metals like potassium or cesium.
They're referring to Rydberg matter (RM) experiments where a "cloud" of such material would extend for distances of the order of centimeters around the "emitter" (heated catalysts) in a vacuum with residual hydrogen gas.
Formation of RM in a purely gaseous environment seems unlikely, but it's more likely in a plasma. The first observations of RM by Holmlid have been made in the late '80s–early '90s in the inter-electrode plasma of thermionic converters and those experiments have been replicated by a Russian group a few years ago:
By the way, recently I have had the occasion of testing some of the K-Fe oxide material at high temperature under flowing H2 inside a pencil-sized furnace open to the atmosphere. The flow was such that the H2 combusted near the opening, also catalytically at the iron oxide material put there.
Under these conditions I haven't been able to observe heat that was not clearly associated with H2-O2 recombination, unfortunately, and the material located more inside the tube did not seem to show increased temperatures from the hydrogen flow (not to any visible extent at least). The tests however were as usual relatively crude—I was just looking for large-scale changes—and the H2 gas from electrolysis was not dried. Moreover, it's unclear whether cluster formation takes places at pressures close to atmospheric under (still) relatively low hydrogen density conditions.
Below is an example of the observed changes without (left) and with (right) hydrogen flow:
At higher temperatures the emission of potassium from the material was such that apparently it started producing a faint potassium flame (visible on the left photo below), which was markedly different from that of H2 combustion more often visible at lower temperature and/or by increasing H2 flow (right):
The heating wire was made of Kanthal A1 and the tube of SS304 alloy. They didn't short-circuit due to the thick oxide layer intentionally formed on their surface.
EDIT: earlier I also tried to plug the opening with the same catalyst material, but it turned out to almost completely block hydrogen flow, and no additional heating was seen at all from H2 admission.
The Kanthal wire looked green at low temperature due to the formation on its surface of KFeO2 due to KOH solution application and heat.
EDIT: here is also a short animation of the previously mentioned apparent potassium flame following hydrogen flow and higher temperatures. I think the volatilized potassium reacted with oxygen more readily than hydrogen would and prevented a "proper" hydrogen flame to form. I could be wrong, though.
UDD clusters have been suggested also recently to be able to engage in D+D fusion (laser-induced and spontaneous), in addition to annihilation like their protium counterpart. Helium when producing UDD has been detected, but not with the usual methods used for example in LENR experiments.
Time-of-flight of He ions from laser-induced processes in ultra-dense deuterium D(0)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijms.2014.10.004 (paywalled)
QuoteAbstract: Time-of-flight (TOF) energy measurements of ions from pulsed laser-induced processes in ultra-dense deuterium D(0) have been accomplished. The scintillation detector is a fast plastic scintillator preceded by a thin Al foil, with photo-multiplier detection of the scintillations. Signal is normally observed only when the laser focus is moved over the target, which means that the process is critically dependent on the state of the D(0) layer. Ions require up to 1 MeV u−1 to penetrate through the Al foil and the observation of a signal in this setup proves directly that nuclear processes take place. Most TOF peaks agree with 4He ions ejected with 3.5–3.6 MeV energy in the D + D nuclear fusion process. These ions are further delayed by collisions with deuterium atoms or ultra-dense deuterium clusters. All probable collision processes of 4He and 3He are observed. T emission is not observed, as expected due to the large reaction rate for T + D. To exclude that after-pulses in the photo-multipliers can give a similar signal, two flight lengths, two photo-multipliers with several mounting methods, several optical filters, and both oscilloscope and pulse-counting detection methods have been employed to study the TOF distributions.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/ab1276
QuoteIn the experiments where the D + D fusion reactions were studied by TOF-MS (Olofson and Holmlid 2014b), collisions of fusion products against D4(0) clusters were detected. The colliding fusion products were 4He, 3He and p. Due to the high energy of a few MeV of the particles from the fusion process, fragmentation processes are indeed expected in their impact on D4(0). The processes observed included scattering of one fast D against the remaining D3 cluster part, thus fragmentation of the D4 clusters was observed. This type of experiment thus proves that the D3(0) clusters are strongly bound, since the D3 clusters were not fragmented further by the impacting D nucleus.
Also see: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-019-3632-y
QuoteIn H(0), it is observed that nuclear processes take place easily (Holmlid and Zeiner-Gundersen 2019), even continuously at a low rate. Experiments showing both spontaneous and laser-induced fusion d + d in d(0) have been described (Badiei et al. 2010c; Andersson and Holmlid 2012b; Holmlid and Olafsson 2015a,b, 2016).
It looks like they're nominally composed of 10% K2O, 10% additives and Fe2O3 balance, but possibly not just the composition, also the preparation method will have an effect on their final performance to some extent. The photos in the brochure suggest anyway that they're still extruded pellets calcined at high temperatures and made industrially in bulk amounts.
While better properties often translate to lower operating costs for the chemical processes where they are used by the tons, I don't think they would necessarily imply better success for ultra-dense hydrogen experiments where just milligrams are typically used.
It has not been reported whether non-defective lattice locations would not also contain UDD/UDH.
In a totally different setup it would not be unthinkable that there could be a mixture of normal deuterons and clusters of UDD/UDH in a metal lattice structure.
Small UDH clusters have been suggested to be able to diffuse easily through metals, so dense (non-defective) metal samples exposed to a source of UDH may end up containing to some extent ordinary H atoms as well as UDH clusters.
https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.4947276
QuoteDue to the large difference in scale between the ultra-dense material and the carrier surface (typically 2 pm instead of 200 pm for the carrier), many novel effects may be possible. It means for example that an entire chain cluster H2N may fit in between two metal atoms on the surface, and that diffusion of small clusters into the surface may be fast.
However, one thing is for the metal to be able to host these clusters, another to actually produce/generate them.
My understanding is that within reasonable margins the detailed composition of these iron oxide catalysts is of relatively limited importance because under active conditions, due to diffusion of potassium to the outside from heat and partial reduction from hydrocarbons (or hydrogen), the surface (from which Rydberg clusters are proposed to be formed) becomes eventually covered with K and Fe oxides in stoichiometric amounts. The additives as other oxides mostly serve to regulate the rate of loss of potassium from the bulk, improve properties like mechanical or reduction resistance and tune selectivity to specific compounds.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9517(92)90295-S
QuoteAbstract: The combination of an XPS/UPS surface analysis instrument with a microreactor allowed the investigation of the surface composition of catalysts characterized by varying activities and selectivities. The active surface is a potassium iron oxide with a 1 : 1 atomic ratio of K : Fe, whereby iron is only in its trivalent state. Conversion of oxidic oxygen to OH groups is detrimental to the activity. No significant amount of promotor additives is present in the active surface. [...]
The pure KFeO2 phase synthesized from stoichiometric K2CO3 and Fe2O3 not only was found to be about as active as the real catalysts, but also on its own to be already able to form K Rydberg states and matter (in a vacuum at elevated temperatures).
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00766208
QuoteAbstract: The industrial catalyst for high temperature dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene based on iron and potassium oxides undergoes, under reaction conditions, essentially a transformation into magnetite, Fe3O4, and a mixture of ternary oxides containing trivalent iron, viz. K2Fe22O34 and KFeO2. The latter compound constitutes the outside of the catalyst particles and is indeed the catalytically active phase.
https://www.researchgate.net/p…of_KFeO2_and_KAlO2_phases
QuoteAbstract: Well‐characterized catalyst model compounds of KAlO2 and KFeO2 are investigated by thermal desorption of potassium from the material. [...] results agree with the data obtained earlier for industrial catalysts for ammonia and styrene production. They are interpreted in terms of the Schottky cycle, which is completed for KAlO2 and fails for KFeO2. This failure indicates a non‐equilibrium desorption process. K Rydberg states are only found to desorb from KFeO2, in agreement with the suggestion that such states in some way are responsible for the catalytic activity.
Rydberg states from the active catalyst are also emitted by heating at 1 bar in air at operating temperature, but clustering to Rydberg matter is likely to occur mostly in a vacuum.
https://doi.org/10.1021/la000951q
QuoteAbstract: The direct spectroscopic observation of K* Rydberg states with principal quantum number n = 5 and 6 by anti-Stokes stimulated Raman spectroscopy at a K-promoted iron oxide surface (commercial catalyst for styrene production) proves that such states are formed thermally at surfaces of alkali-promoted heterogeneous catalysts. The K* states can be detected at 1 bar air pressure downward and at normal catalyst operating temperature in a vacuum. They exist in the boundary layer at the surface. Previous reports of the detection of K* Rydberg states from such catalysts using field ionization and laser ionization in a vacuum are thus confirmed. The implications for the reactivity of alkali-promoted catalysts are discussed.
I do not have direct experience, but some people around have got them from this source:
https://www.alibaba.com/produc…n-catalyst_876047913.html
I've also been told that Leif Holmlid has been using Shell 105-equivalent catalysts from BASF, but I'm assuming it's not simple for regular people to purchase limited amounts of such catalysts.
If possible, you would be better off synthesizing your own from iron oxide and potassium carbonate or hydroxide, and optionally other oxides (e.g. CeO2 and/or Cr2O3). The process is not difficult, provided that you can apply sufficient heat in air.
I also found that it's possible to directly synthesize the metastable active phase of these catalysts (KFeO2) at much lower temperatures from FeOOH and KOH, even in the form of thin films on steel surfaces, but whether they are catalytically efficient, there are no published studies.
What I'm saying above is that typical lattice defects will probably be too small for H RM clusters to form, and larger features might be needed. Perhaps Iwamura-type sandwich structures may be producing them in lager amounts.
Wherever H RM is formed, depending on surrounding conditions the ultra-dense form should also be associated with it, at least according to what has been suggested by Holmlid so far, as well as from what is implied in the excerpts I posted above.
It can be expected that not everybody will agree with Holmlid's ultra-dense hydrogen idea (or more in general that deep electron orbit hydrogen atoms exist) and many LENR researchers may find sufficient the idea that "ordinary" metallic hydrogen will have properties exotic enough for nuclear reactions and excess heat to arise. For instance, Edmund Storms' Hydroton is proposed to be formed in cracks and voids in metals/metal-oxides and to have properties analogue to metallic hydrogen, but I don't think it is considered to have ultra density.
This is just a hypothesis, but it might possibly exist in pores larger than lattice vacancies, since there would have to be room for at least a certain number (3-4 or more) of neutral hydrogen atoms in order for the smallest observed H RM clusters to form.
In reference to densities in the order of 1023–1024 here is a related excerpt from a 2010 paper by Badiei, Andersson, Holmlid:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3371718 (paywalled)
And a similar one from https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263034610000236 (also paywalled):
Assuming cubic packing, I get:
1/(1023 atoms/cm3) = 10-23 cm3/atom
(10-23 cm3)1/3 * 1010 => 215.44 pm
I don't know about their theory, but more than a precise value, 1023 atoms/cm3 sounds like a general order of magnitude indicating that they're referring about hydrogen atoms with solid density, i.e. metallic hydrogen. This is close to the density of Hydrogen Rydberg matter in the lowest energy level, which has indeed been defined as metallic hydrogen: https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/16/39/034
It's not clear. Neutrons have been suggested to have a very short mean free path through UDH (specifically, UDD), but I haven't tried calculating the range of energetic (~100 MeV) neutral kaons—which may also be generated in the annihilation reactions—through such dense layers.
From https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.06.116 (paywalled):
EDIT: I would say that in the same way that high-energy neutrons bounce off nuclei of ordinary atoms, energetic neutral kaons should still bounce off the protons or deuterons composing UDH.
Muons may be reflected too:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01864 (open access)
Quote[...] Of special interest are the scattering properties of a layer of H(0) [19, 29]. Such a layer reflects charged particles even at high energy, due to the extreme density of this layer. This means that muons may have their final scattering interaction at such a layer on the target before moving to the detector.
The idea is that UDH would not form a superfluid layer on such coating, and therefore it would not reflect the mesons like the surrounding metal surfaces would do. See for instance:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4729078
QuoteD(−1) exists on organic polymer surfaces like (poly(methyl methacrylate)) PMMA even at a distance of a few millimeter from a metal in contact with the polymer. The density of D(−1) decreases from the metal surface to the open polymer surface, and is to some extent replaced by D(1) on the polymer surface.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2012.11.012
QuoteIn previous studies, the interaction between the superfluid D(−1) layer and various carrier materials prior to the laser pulse has been investigated. It was shown that organic polymer materials do not give a condensed D(−1) layer. Metal surfaces carry thicker D(−1) layers useful for fusion.
https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2018093312A1/
Quote[...]The barrier may advantageously have at least an outer surface facing the surrounded area that is made of a material that does not support creeping of ultra-dense hydrogen. Examples of such materials include various polymers, glass, and base metal oxides, such as aluminum oxide.
I still think that any advanced method for harvesting the energy of the mesons generated will probably also use at the same time the properties of the ultra-dense hydrogen material produced. For example, it could be possible to have them reflect off multiple times from superfluid layers of UDH in order to absorb their energy with materials along their path that do not support a layer of UDH. The construction could be very compact.
Rather than developing a heating product to compete with other LENR researchers, most of Holmlid's recent research work has been towards characterizing the observed high-energy particle current that has been interpreted as due to mesons and muons.
The gain calculation from the kinetic energy of the particles emitted over 4pi is higher: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.01.212
Quote[...] annihilation of around 1013 hydrogen atoms, or around 10 pmol annihilated per laser pulse giving of the order of 50 J to the fast particles from the laser pulse of 0.4 J thus an energy gain of >100. With 10 pulses per second from a normal Q-switched laser, this gives 500 J per second or 0.5 kW.
However it's unclear whether it is truly possible to extrapolate the signal over 4Pi like Holmlid does. It seems to me that the working principle presented for the "interstellar rocket" linked earlier would provide a concentrated meson beam to the collector portion from which the signal is generally observed, or that in any case a large portion of the collector signal would be from reflected mesons.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.05.034
QuoteMany of the particles formed can penetrate far through normal materials, thus an equal number of particles may be ejected in all directions giving no directed thrust. The simple inherent solution to this is to see to that thick layers of ultra-dense hydrogen are formed on the target which prevents the penetration by reflecting the mesons from these layers. This effect was studied for ions in Refs. [25].
