arXiv subjects

Florian Metzler

Publications and source records attributed to Florian Metzler.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Gatekeeping: a Partial History of Cold Fusion

One of the most public episodes of gatekeeping in modern science was the case of so-called 'cold fusion'. At a news conference in 1989 the electrochemists Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons announced that they had found evidence of nuclear fusion in palladium electrodes loaded with deuterium. There was worldwide interest. Many groups sought to reproduce the results, most unsuccessfully. Within months, the prevailing view became strongly negative. The claims of Fleischmann and Pons came to be regarded as disreputable, as well as false. As the Caltech physicist David Goldstein put it, cold fusion became 'a pariah field, cast out by the scientific establishment' (Goldstein 1994). The case would already be interesting for students of gatekeeping if the story had ended at that point. Even more interestingly, however, the field survived and persisted. It has been enjoying a modest renaissance, with recent government funding both in the US and the EU. This piece offers an opinionated introduction to cold fusion as a case study of scientific gatekeeping, discussing both its early and recent history

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2025

Models for nuclear fusion in the solid state

This article presents a theoretical framework for enhancing nuclear fusion rates in solid-state environments under near-ambient conditions. Drawing on quantum tunneling, electron screening, and resonance energy transfer, the study proposes rate enhancements of more than 40 orders of magnitude for deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion in palladium lattices. A generalized nuclear Dicke model describes a fusion-fission process as a result of energy transfer between D-D and palladium mediated by lattice vibrations. Practical challenges such as decoherence, destructive interference, receiver decay, and achieving resonance between donor and receiver systems are addressed. Experimental strategies to validate the model are proposed along with its implications for the advancement of solid-state fusion as a potential pathway to sustainable energy technologies.

physics.gen-ph↗

arXiv2023

Quantum Engineering for Energy Applications

Quantum engineering seeks to create novel technologies based on the exploitation of distinctly nonclassical behaviors such as quantum superposition. The vast majority of currently pursued applications fall into the domain of quantum information science, with quantum computing as the most visible subdomain. However, other applications of quantum engineering are fast emerging. Here, we review the deployment of quantum engineering principles in the fields of solar energy, batteries, and nuclear energy. We identify commonalities across quantum engineering approaches in those apparently disparate fields and draw direct parallels to quantum information science. We find that a shared knowledge base is forming, which de facto corresponds to a new domain that we refer to as 'quantum energy science'. Quantum energy science bears the promise of substantial performance improvements across energy technologies such as organic solar cells, quantum batteries, and nuclear fusion. The recognition of this emerging domain may be of great relevance to actors concerned with energy innovation. It may also benefit active researchers in this domain by increasing visibility and motivating the deployment of resources and institutional support.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Known mechanisms that increase nuclear fusion rates in the solid state

We investigate known mechanisms for enhancing nuclear fusion rates at ambient temperatures and pressures in solid-state environments. In deuterium fusion, on which the paper is focused, an enhancement of >40 orders of magnitude would be needed to achieve observable fusion. We find that mechanisms for fusion rate enhancement up to 30 orders of magnitude each are known across the domains of atomic physics, nuclear physics, and quantum dynamics. Cascading such mechanisms could lead to an overall enhancement of 40 orders of magnitude and more. We present a roadmap with examples of how hypothesis-driven research could be conducted in -- and across -- each domain to probe the plausibility of technologically-relevant fusion in the solid state.

physics.app-ph↗