冷核聚變

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、熱核武器和實驗性聚變反應堆中高溫、高壓的「熱」核聚變，也不包括常溫的緲子催化聚變（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）和斯坦利·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、氚等核反應副產物。^[2]此外，該實驗較簡單，僅是一個發生於鈀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，美國能源部發佈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

冷核聚變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聚變示範。在實驗中，荒田吉明使氘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聚變產生氦原子核。

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

參考資料

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 harvnb模板錯誤: 無指向目標: CITEREFFleischmannPons1989 (幫助) ("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. 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. 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. 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. 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 harvnb模板錯誤: 無指向目標: CITEREFPlatt1998 (幫助), Voss 1999a, Beaudette 2002 harvnb模板錯誤: 無指向目標: CITEREFBeaudette2002 (幫助), Feder 2005, Adam 2005 harvnb模板錯誤: 無指向目標: CITEREFAdam2005 (幫助) "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 harvnb模板錯誤: 無指向目標: CITEREFKruglinski2006 (幫助), Van Noorden 2007, Alfred 2009 harvnb模板錯誤: 無指向目標: CITEREFAlfred2009 (幫助). Daley 2004 harvnb模板錯誤: 無指向目標: CITEREFDaley2004 (幫助) 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

報導與評論

• "Cold Fusion Research"（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） - Energy Research Advisory Board report (November 1989)
  • Conclusions and recommendations（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） section of the report
• U.S. Navy Report Detailing a Decade of Cold Fusion Research（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） "Thermal and Nuclear Aspects of the Pd/D2O System", U.S. Navy TECHNICAL REPORT 1862, February 2002
• U.S. DoE 2004 Cold Fusion Review - U.S. Department of Energy review of 15 years of cold fusion experiments
• Cold Fusion - An Objective Assessment（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） - by Dr. Edmund Storms, a review of the experimental results (December 2001; 233 references, including 34 studies reporting anomalous energy using the Pons-Fleischmann method)

期刊與書籍

• Cold Fusion Times（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） - quarterly journal about cold fusion

Websites and repositories

• Britz's cold nuclear fusion bibliography - an overview and review of almost all available publications about cold nuclear fusion
• Cold Fusion — 17 Years and Heating Up - directory of cold fusion resources compiled by FreeEnergyNews.com
• L. Kowalski's web site - a collection of commentaries on cold fusion research from a physics teacher
• International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science - website of the ISCMNS
• JL Naudin's web site - the CFR project, a High Temperature Plasma Electrolysis based on the Tadahiko Mizuno work from the Hokkaido University (Japan)
• A Cold Fusion primer（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）, in English and Italian
• Harold Aspden|Aspden, Harold, Cold Fusion Lectures and Essays, 1998 (html available（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）). It gives a firsthand thorough account of the efforts and experiments in the development of cold fusion, including the obstruction and hostility done by state agencies and the industry; it presents also the description of this British engineer and physicist GB Patent no. 2,231,195 (1993) and U.S. Patent no. 5,734,122 (1998).

新聞

1980年代

• Elation Should Be Tempered Until Jury Has Examined Experiments The Financial Post (May 1 1989)
• "Physicists Debunk Claim Of a New Kind of Fusion"（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） - The New York Times (May 3 1989)
• "PFC results said to deal blow to fusion claims"（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） - MIT Tech (May 9 1989) - Early cold fusion claims set straight by work in their Plasma Fusion Center

1990年代

• Whatever Happened to Cold Fusion? The American Scholar (Late 1994)
• What If Cold Fusion Is Real?（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） Wired, (November 1998)
• Whatever happened to cold fusion?（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） Physics World, (March 1999)
• The War Against Cold Fusion - What's really behind it? SF Gate - (May 1999)

2000年代

• Arthur C Clarke demands cold fusion rethink（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） BBC News (September 2000)
• "Cold Fusion Heats Up. CBC Science, December 2003
• DoE warms to cold fusion（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） Physics Today April 2004.
• Warming up to Cold Fusion（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） Washington Post Magazine (November 2004)
• ICCF-11 Overview With Links to Presentations International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science (November 2004)
• U.S. review rekindles cold fusion debate（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） Nature - (December 2004)
• The 2005 Cold Fusion Colloquium（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） Cold Fusion Times (May 2005) - Public gathering of cold fusion researchers at MIT
• Cold-Fusion Believers Work On, Even as Mainstream Science Gives Them the Cold Shoulder Salt Lake City Weekly (October 2005)
• ICCF-12 Overview With Links to Presentations International Society for Condensed Matter Nuclear Science (December 2005)
• Does fusion scientist 'hold the secret'?（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） Deseret Morning News (March 2006)
• Fleischmann Joins D2Fusion to Develop Cold Fusion Heaters Pure Energy Systems News (March 2006)
• Extraordinary Evidence for Cold Fusion（頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館） U.S. Navy’s San Diego SPAWAR labs deliver evidence for Cold Fusion (Pamela Mosier-Boss and Stan Szpak) (November 2006)

書目

• 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.