%0 Journal Article
%T The role of correlation entropy in nuclear fusion in liquid lithium, indium and mercury
%A M. Coraddu
%A M. Lissia
%A P. Quarati
%A A. M. Scarfone
%J Physics
%D 2015
%I arXiv
%R 10.1088/0954-3899/41/12/125105
%X Nuclear fusion cross-sections considerably higher than corresponding theoretical predictions are observed in low-energy experiments with metal matrix targets and accelerated deuteron beams. The cross-section increment is significantly higher for liquid than for solid targets. We propose that the same two-body correlation entropy used in evaluating the metal melting entropy explains the large liquid-solid difference of the effective screening potential that parameterizes the cross-section increment. This approach is applied to the specific case of the $^6$Li(d,$\alpha$)$^4$He reaction, whose measured screening potential liquid-solid difference is $(235 \pm 63)$ eV. Cross sections in the two metals with the highest two-body correlation entropy (In and Hg) have not yet been measured: increments of the cross sections in liquid relative to the ones in solid metals are estimated with the same procedure.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.05906v1