Haroches Cockroach: A nuclear fusion breakthrough?

postflaviana.org /haroches-cockroach-nuclear-fusion-breakthrough/
Jerry Russell
This information regarding cold fusion is being presented with great humility, in hopes that more educated
and experienced physicists than myself will review my findings, and offer further thoughts or commentary.
Muon-Catalyzed Fusion
Muon-catalyzed fusion (MCF) is a little-known type of fusion reaction that occurs at ordinary temperatures
and pressures. As the name suggests, the reaction is facilitated (catalyzed) by muons, which are
negatively charged subatomic particles which are similar to electrons, but are much more massive.
Like all particles, electrons and muons have a dual nature, manifesting themselves not only as particles,
but also as waves. With their greater mass, muons have a smaller inherent wavelength than electrons.
Therefore, atoms shrink to a much smaller size than normal, if muons are used to replace the electrons. In
this highly dense form of muonic matter, the nuclei can are spaced far closer together than in normal
matter, and the electrical (coulombic) barrier to fusion is dramatically reduced. Thus, fusion can occur at
manageable temperature and pressure levels.
Muons can be produced using particle accelerators (atom smashers), but they are relatively expensive to
make in terms of energy. However, because the muons are used to catalyze nuclear reactions without
necessarily being consumed in the process, it might seem that whatever energy is used in making muons
could yield large dividends in fusion energy yield. Unfortunately, the utility of the reaction is limited by the
alpha sticking problem. Alpha sticking means that a muon is carried away along with the alpha particle
(helium nucleus) produced by the fusion reaction, rather than being released to catalyze more reactions.
In 1986, Dr. Steven Jones and his colleagues published a landmark paper: Observation of unexpected
density effects in muon-catalyzed d-t fusion (Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 588591). In this paper, they described
an experiment in which they set a worlds record for efficiency of the MCF reaction. The results of the
experiment were surprising in that they showed that the alpha-sticking problem was much less severe than
theoretical predictions had indicated. Jones (along with Johann Rafelski) went on to report their excitement
in an article simply called Cold Nuclear Fusion in the July 1987 issue of Scientific American, boldly
discussing the configuration of a possible, commercial cold-fusion reactor that could be built with existing
technology.
In spite of this early optimism, the development of a practical energy-production technology based on MCF
has remained tantalizingly elusive. According to conventional wisdom, this has remained the situation right
up until the present time.
Beginning in 1989, Dr. Jones and the entire field of Cold Fusion research took a strange detour,
effectively disappearing into an obscure, marginalized rabbit-hole. I will have much more to say about this
detour later in this chapter. Meanwhile, throughout the decade of the 1990s, there was very little to say
about muon-catalyzed fusion as such. Research was poorly funded, and no visible progress was made. As
far as can be discerned from any publicly available sources, the story of MCF doesnt become interesting
again until 2006. Meanwhile, my narrative will take a detour of its own.
Haroches Cockroach

The 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Serge Haroche and David Wineland. As the Nobel
committee explained, the prize was awarded for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable
measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems. As is typical for the committee, the prize was
awarded for work that was essentially completed many years earlier (in this case, mostly in the 1990s),
allowing time for a distant perspective to illuminate the importance of the work. In his speech at the Nobel
Prize banquet, Haroche explained what he and his colleagues had accomplished, using a vivid metaphor
which I believe was quite possibly prophetic in the Biblical sense of predicting something which had
already come to pass. Haroche said:

Let me, at the close of this wonderful banquet, evoke the memory of Erwin Schrdinger. His
work has had an impact on all the fields of science and culture celebrated tonight. He
received the Nobel prize in Physics in 1933 for finding the equation which explains the
behavior of matter at the quantum level. Schrdingers equation also accounts, at least in
principle, for the structure of all the molecules studied in chemistry and biology. It has also
a strong influence on the world economy. Most of the devices which have changed our lives
are based on quantum physics, from the laser to the transistor, from the GPS to the cell
phone, from the magnetic resonance imaging to the global communication network.
Schrdingers equation is essential to explain the workings of these technological marvels,
whose sales reach billions of dollars.
What about Schrdingers merits in literature? He may not have written any novel, but he
invented a character about which a lot has been written in many books, a character which
has even featured in movies, generating endless metaphysical discussions. I am of course
referring to the legendary Schrdingers cat, suspended between life and death by the laws
of quantum physics and its superposition principle. In his famous thought experiment,
Schrdinger could have chosen an inanimate object or a less lovable living being, a
cockroach for instance. Just think about it. What about Schrdingers cockroach? The story
would have been as demonstrative to explain the strange logic of the quantum world, but
much less impressive. By the stroke of genius of choosing the right animal in the right
dramatic situation, and by having fathered an immortal character as famous as the
Cheshire cat of Alice in Wonderland, Schrdinger has made an impact on the world culture.
My fondness for this quantum feline is of course biased. David Wineland and I have been
awarded the Nobel Prize for creating miniature versions of this famous cat, made of a few
atoms or photons. We have both been accompanied in our long research adventure by
wonderful colleagues, without whom we would never have succeeded. We are very glad
that many of them are here this evening. Other groups in the world are also working in this
field, raising various ersatz of laboratory cats and trying to preserve as long as possible
their quantumness. What is the future of these cats? One easy may be too easy answer,
is that they will turn into a quantum computer. I dont know. I rather guess that they will lead
to some unforeseen application, even more astonishing than this mythical machine.

The cockroach, of course, is the indestructible insect that is metaphorically expected to be the only survivor
of a nuclear holocaust, the ultimate heir of all mankinds efforts on earth. And if I am correct, a new type of
extraordinarily dangerous nuclear weapon is the the unforseen application of Haroche and Winelands
quantum-level cockroach.
Schrodingers enigmatic cat is considered a paradox of quantum theory. As the story goes, a radioactive
atom is placed in a box with a radiation detector, a vial of poison, and a cat. When the atom decays,

releasing a quantum of energy, the detector releases the poison. According to the equations of quantum
mechanics, the radioactive atom exists as a superposition of its two quantum states: either decayed, or
intact; but it is meaningless to ask which state exists, until it is observed. By placing the particle in the
same box with the cat, and then closing the box, Schrodingers paradox purports to create a nonobservable system in which the cat must also exist in a state of being simultaneously dead and alive, until
such time as the box is opened.
According to Schrodinger, the resolution of the paradox is that the cat is a separate, macroscopic system
from the atom; there is no single wave equation describing them both as a coupled system, nor can any
macroscopic object necessarily be described by a quantum wave function. The detector in the system is
responsible for collapsing the wave function of the radioactive particle and amplifying this quantum-level
effect to a macroscopic level, so that it can kill the cat. But how is it, exactly, that the detector collapses the
wave function; and what is it that determines when it is appropriate to use Schrodingers wave equation to
describe ensembles of particles? In the 1980s and 1990s (and to some extent, still today), this was a
matter requiring further research as Haroche and Wineland undoubtedly pointed out as they wrote their
grant applications.
When Haroche says that he and his colleagues were creating miniature versions of this famous cat, made
of a few atoms or photons, what he means is that they created small ensembles of particles that behaved
as Schrodinger imagined that his postulated cat ought to behave; that is, the systems quantum state could
not be described independently, but rather that a single quantum wave equation encompasses the entire
system. Such an equation must use enough variables to describe the state of all particles; yet (consistent
with the Heisenberg uncertainty principle) it cannot simultaneously determine their position and velocity.
Since Schrodingers day, such an ensemble of particles has also been known as a quantum
entanglement. An entangled pair of photons was the subject of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) effect,
another famous and controversial paradox of the early era of quantum physics. The EPR effect predicts
that after the entangled photons are separated, their quantum states would continue to be engaged, so
that a resolution of the spin state of one photon would be instantaneously reflected in the state of the other
across any distance, no matter how great. This was what Einstein called spooky action at a distance,
and he argued that the prediction couldnt possibly be right. However, most physicists today accept the
reality of the EPR effect (aside from a few stragglers still searching for loopholes), and Anton Zeilinger
received the 2008 Isaac Newton Medal of the UK Institute of Physics for his 1997 experimental
demonstration that the EPR effect could be used for teleportation of quantum states.
Haroches work used a superconducting mirrored cavity to trap a single ion (or a few ions) and a single
photon (or a few photons), creating a small entanglement or superposition of the two types of particles.
This conceptually simple entanglement was the subject of the studies that enabled Haroche to examine
the transition of particles into and out of the entangled state.
Also in the early 1990s, the field of atomic interferometry exploded (Borde et al 1994) with experimenters
realizing that they could use these instruments to study Schrodingers cats made of atoms. Experiments at
two of these labs, at headed by Dr. David Pritchard at MIT and Dr. Carlos Cloud at Rochester University,
were written up in a 1995 article in the New York Times, which explained:

At the heart of such experiments lies a fundamental question: Is there a sharp dividing line
between the macro world encountered by human beings and the quantum world of ultrasmall objects, where the rules seem wildly at odds with ordinary existence?
Put another way, how large can an object be and still remain subject to such quantum rules
as the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which forbids simultaneous measurement of an

objects position and its momentum?

This whole emerging field is of interest to people studying mesoscopic physics the
physics at the border between the quantum domain and the everyday world, Dr. Pritchard
said.
A series of quantum mechanical experiments at the University of Rochester in New York is
digging into many mesoscopic mysteries, including the troublesome scientific paradox
known as Schrodingers Cat.
One tenet of quantum physics is that all probabilities of all possible histories must be taken
into account when calculating the outcome of some event. Erwin Schrodinger, a German
physicist awarded the Nobel Prize in 1933 for his work in quantum physics, lightheartedly
suggested a hypothetical device for equating the quantum world with the everyday world.
The device would consist of a sealed box containing a live cat and a poison capsule. The
capsule would be connected to a triggering device actuated by a radioactive atom with a 50
percent chance of decaying. If the atom decayed during the experiment, the cat would die;
if not, the cat would live.
In the most widely accepted interpretation of quantum mechanics, the cat would exist
during the experiment in a superposition of states that is, it would be simultaneously
dead and alive until and unless someone opened the box to look, thereby collapsing the
cats quantum mechanical wave function and reducing it to a single state, either dead or
alive, but not both.
At the University of Rochester, Dr. Carlos Stroud and his student, Michael Noel, are
attacking atomic equivalents of the fabled quantum cat, in the hope of closing in on some of
the deep philosophical questions that have always clouded quantum physics.
The object of their attention is the single electron in the outermost electron shell of a
potassium atom.
Because of the rules of quantum mechanics, physicists find it convenient to regard the
electrons bound to atoms as smeared clouds of probability, not as point particles that circle
atomic nuclei as if they were little planets. But as a matter of fact, electrons remain both
waves and particles. In Dr. Strouds experiments, a pair of laser pulses, each lasting about
25 trillionths of a second, are used to excite the outermost potassium electron into two
different superimposed quantum states, roughly equivalent to the simultaneously deadand-alive cat. These states are made to interfere with each other, and the resulting
interference pattern is measured with the help of a laser probe.
Among the interesting results of the Rochester experiments was the finding of the electron
in two different places, one of them very close to the atoms core, at the innermost point
along a highly elliptical orbit. The experiment proved that when viewed by bombarding an
atom with a laser so that it briefly swelled to large size, the positions of an orbiting wave
packet representing an electron can be determined by a series of snapshots; for an instant,
the electron becomes discernible as a little orbiting blob rather than a hazy fuzz ball
representing merely the region probably occupied by the electron.
Quantum mechanics has served for seven decades as the theoretical underpinning of such
immensely practical devices as tunneling diodes and transistors. But the paradoxes of
quantum mechanics the possibility of simultaneously being and not being, for example

continue to trouble philosophers and some scientists. Dr. Stroud believes those paradoxes
cannot be simply ignored, as many physicists and engineers prefer to do.
Without a sound philosophical foundation we cant go forward, he said, but we need more
clues to get past idle theorizing and debate. Thats the motivation for the Schrodingers Cat
experiments weve started doing.
The Times article also mentioned another scientist, Joseph M. Jacobson, who was working
at the time as a postdoc at Stanford:
While much of the new research explores the wave nature of matter, a physics team at
Stanford University in California has taken the opposite approach by designing an
apparatus that could create a molecule from a light wave a cluster of linked photon
particles analogous to the clusters of atoms that make up molecules of matter. The idea,
explained Dr. Joseph M. Jacobson, the team leader, is to launch a bunch of coherent
photons of light into a quantum switching device (or a special wave guide) that would
arbitrarily either let all of them through or none of them. In operation, he said, the apparatus
could generate an ensemble of photons existing in two simultaneous superposition
states, all or nothing.
Provided you dont look into the box and collapse the wave function of Schrodingers Cat,
Dr. Jacobson said, you can get the superposition states to interfere with each other and
extract useful information from the interference pattern.

Also in 1995, Jacobson published a theoretical paper with Dr. Yoshihisa Yamamoto and other colleagues,
discussing the results of the atomic interferometry experiments as well as his own quantum switching
device for photons (which was based on Haroches photon trap design.) Jacobson predicted that for
photons, the effective mass and energy of an entangled ensemble would be increased, and the effective
wavelength would be smaller, just as had already been proven for ensembles of atoms. Other researchers
later verified this prediction for photon ensembles, although its not clear whether Jacobson was able to
personally complete this aspect of his experiment.
Jacobsons Low Cost, Compact Size fusion patent application
By 1997, Jacobson had seemingly moved on from his postdoctoral interest in the quantum theory of
Schrodingers cat. He joined MITs media lab, where he headed the molecular machines group, and
developed a microsphere technology for electronic information displays. He also became an
entrepreneur, and founded E-Ink, a company that used the microsphere technology to implement the
display for the original (paperwhite) Kindle as well as other products.
However, apparently his past was not completely left behind. In 2006, Jacobson filed a remarkable patent
application. A veritable grab bag of wonders, the patent proposes four different methods to achieve
desktop nuclear fusion. As the patent states:
http://www.google.com/patents/US20080008286

Systems and methods are described for carrying out fusion reactions by changing either
the Coulombic energy barrier or the reaction cross section or both. Such systems and
methods are useful for creating fusion reactions which exceed energy breakeven (Q>1)
and which have a relatively low cost and compact size.

The patent application is strangely defiant of the basic rules of the patent office. An elementary principle is
that a patent should describe a single invention, no more than that. Putting three inventions in one
application only guarantees that two of them must be ultimately filtered out. Furthermore, in order to get a
patent awarded, an inventor must either prove that the invention has been reduced to practice, or
describe the invention in sufficient detail that it could be implemented by someone with ordinary skill in the
art, or preferably both. Jacobson came nowhere close to meeting this standard, as the examiner quickly
noted.
Furthermore, theres nothing in Jacobsons background to indicate any specific interest or experience in
fusion technology. Although quantum mechanics and nanotechnology are certainly related fields, its hard
to imagine how Jacobson, as a dabbler in the desktop fusion business, could come up with four such
excellent ideas; or, if he did indeed somehow come up with these inventions in his spare time, why he
would have revealed such valuable trade secrets to the world without any hope of having a patent
awarded. As a successful first-time entrepreneur, Jacobson would have been in a prime position to pursue
funding for these ideas; that is, before he gave them away to the world for free.
The first method suggested by Jacobson in the patent application is to use an interferometer setup to aim
beams of atoms at each other with great precision, so that they would impact together directly and fuse,
without deflecting each other from their straight path. The cross-sectional area of such a reaction would be
extremely small, and Jacobson gives no hints as to how such precision aim could be accomplished. It is
very difficult for anyone without specific experience in the field of atomic interferometry, to judge the
technical feasibility of such an achievement. And, since this method relies on aiming single atoms at any
moment, it seems an unlikely method for building a bomb; much more promising for a desktop power
plant. However: if I were a government agency or a well-heeled private entrepreneur looking for a way to
solve the peak oil crisis and save our civilization from man-made global warming, I would certainly
consider funding the research necessary to test or implement Jacobsons first method.
Jacobsons second method is related to Steven Jones old friend, Muon-Catalyzed Fusion, which was
more or less abandoned for dead in the early 90s. The patent application states:

Here we disclose means for reducing the sticking probability of said Muon to said fusion
product by means of incident x-ray photons of energy tuned to (or photons which have
energies which are integer fractions of) the Muon-fusion product bond energy.

Jacobson gives no direct experimental evidence for this claim, but simply states that it is known in the field
of laser chemistry that photons can break bonds between particles. If Jacobson is factually correct, this
raises the possibility that muon-catalyzed fusion could become a fully operational technology for energy
production, if it isnt already. It certainly would be an easy experiment to try, at least conceptually: reconstruct Steven Jones 1986 apparatus and add x-rays. But again, this seems unlikely to be a viable
technology for building small, inexpensive bombs for tactical applications. Muon sources known in the
public domain are based on particle accelerator technology, so they are huge and power-hungry. Compact
muon sources may exist, but if so, they would be unlikely to supply enough muon flux to fuel a big reaction.
Jacobson also mentions that muons could be added to the interferometer in his first method, to make the
reaction rate higher. Again, this is a good idea, but not a likely approach to building a weapon.
Jacobsons third method is the one that fascinates me most. From the patent application:

Referring to FIG. 7, Jacobson, Bjork, Chuang, and Yamamoto in their paper entitled

Photonic De Broglie Waves (Physical Review Letters 74, 4835 (1995)) describe an
effective Hamiltonian [wave function equation here] which can turn the coupling
between atoms on or off. In that paper it is shown that the de Broglie wavelength is
proportional to 1/(Number of coupled atoms). As described in the paragraph above, a
successful means of carrying out low temperature fusion processes is to substitute the
electron in tritium with the 200 times more massive muon thus decreasing the Bohr radius
sufficient for the muonic tritium to approach a deuterium atom at room temperature. He we
describe a similar situation however instead of using muons which are expensive (in terms
of energy) to create a reduced Bohr radius we employ the idea of creating an effective
Hamiltonian in which, because they are coupled to one another, the effective mass of each
electron is increased and thus the Bohr radius is decreased. Referring to FIG. 7, a cavity
(610) containing deuterium atoms or tritium atoms (640) has incident upon it a microwave
source (630) and a magnetic field source ( 620) used to couple electron orbital states with
the collective magnetic states of the ensemble of atoms in the cavity resulting in a
Hamiltonian in which the effective mass of each atoms electron scales as the number of
atoms in the ensemble thus reducing the size of the effective Bohr radius and decreasing
the coulombic barrier to fusion.

By the term effective Hamiltonian, Jacobson is referring to an entanglement or quantum superposition of

electrons. His claim is that in this Haroches cockroach (microscopic Schrodingers cat) made of deuterium
and tritium, the space occupied by the electrons will essentially collapse, creating a massive core of atoms
whose state should easily proceed to nuclear fusion. This is clearly related to muon-catalyzed fusion
(MCF), except that there are no muons, nor any catalyst. So we need a new name for it. As I will argue
below, it seems quite likely to me that this has already been successfully implemented, but there is little
reason to believe that Jacobson is the true inventor. Thus, until further information becomes available, I am
calling this Megalomaniac Controlled Fusion. (At least this way we can keep the acronym, MCF.)
If this technology was actually discovered and implemented by Steven Jones and/or his colleagues at
Brigham Young or the University of Utah, it may be renamed Mormon Controlled Fusion. Weaponized, it
should be known as the Haroches Cockroach Bomb.
Jacobsons apparatus is shown in the enigmatic cartoon-like drawing
in Figure 7 of the patent application, above. It appears to depict a
nuclear-magnetic resonance chamber similar to those used for
diagnostic imaging in hospitals. A magnet (presumably
superconducting) is used to align the magnetic spins of the particles,
while a microwave source supplies energy to entrain the vibrations of
the atoms and electrons. However, obviously you cant build a fusion
reactor simply by putting some deuterium in a hospital NMR machine.
The drawing hides some mysteries: what size of cockroach (how
many atoms) can be assembled by such means? What preconfiguration must exist to allow them to be entrained? What sort of
chamber walls can be used to contain such a reaction? How can the
fusion reaction be triggered? Overall, it is a large parameter search
space.
Perhaps Jacobson was safe to reveal his trade secret concerning the
basic method; after all, who would ever believe that something so
simple could actually work? All I can say is, this theory looks highly
plausible to me. I would really appreciate some help from a knowledgeable and experienced nuclear

physicist to review this.

Practical and strategic implications

My concern is that a secret breakthrough has already been achieved in pure fusion weapons technology.
Most likely, the breakthrough was completed in the 1990s, and may have been utilized in the demolition of
the twin WTC towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, the new weapon may have seen limited
use in Middle Eastern war theaters, but its existence remains a closely guarded secret (if, indeed, it exists
at all).
Through false dialectics, manipulation of academic process, and control of the popular press, I believe that
whatever cabal has invented and controlled this weapon, has succeeded in completely diverting the
worlds attention away from themselves and their tremendous new source of power.
The weapon seems to have extraordinary properties. With moderate explosive force, it converts buildings
and people to powder and dust. It produces intense heat and radiation, probably in the form of gamma
rays. But, it does not seem to produce the high-energy neutrons that create unstable, highly radioactive
heavy nuclei in conventional nuclear explosions, nor does it create any fission products. I believe this may
be because it uses the aneutronic boron-hydrogen fusion reaction, rather than the deuterium-tritium
reaction used in conventional fusion technology. Thus, it is very clean compared to conventional
weapons, and its use is basically invisible to the scientific instrumentation used to detect violations of the
nuclear test ban treaty. It may be available in the most militarily useful sizes for tactical applications, unlike
conventional nuclear weapons that are only efficient and cost-effective as blockbusters, if not city-busters.
If this is correct, of course, it is a matter of the greatest possible importance and urgency for the world.
Such a weapon would have tremendous potential for war and genocide. Especially if it is reasonably
inexpensive to produce, its owners have now had enough time to produce and stockpile the weapon in
enormous volume. While conventional nuclear weapons create intolerable levels of blow-back to the
aggressor in terms of radioactive fallout as well as possible nuclear winter, this new weapon could be
used with impunity.
Internationally, we can only speculate as to which nation-states have been given the secret (or have been
able to independently re-discover it) and would therefore be ready to put it to use during wartime. It seems
reasonable to guess that the smaller, less powerful peripheral states of Africa, South America and Asia
have largely been kept in the dark; while in the states of Europe and North America, it may be only the
citizens who are clueless. Alternately, it is possible that the secret was discovered by a very small group of
elite insiders, and that only a few people on the planet are now aware of it.
The alert reader, of course, will also consider the possibility that the author is reading too much
into the rather meager evidence provided. However, I will leave it to wiser minds than mine to find flaws
in this theory.
If there is indeed a pure fusion-based weapons technology, it seems highly likely (although not certain)
that there is a peaceful power-generation technology as well. Again, this would have the most
extraordinary implications for mankind, as our human civilization is faced with a new Dark Age caused by
the possible exhaustion of readily accessible fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas, as well as the
potential for man-made global warming to cause dangerous or even runaway changes in the climate.
These hazards could, of course, be averted if a clean and abundant nuclear fusion energy technology
could be deployed in an expeditious fashion. However, if the reasoning in this page is correct, apparently
the elite owners of this technology would prefer to risk these disasters rather than prematurely release their
secrets for the benefit of mankind in general.

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