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Spontaneous nuclear fusion

Matej Lipoglavšek* and Aleksandra Cvetinović

  • *Contact author: matej.lipoglavsek@ijs.si
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043070 – Published 19 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ycnn-yqbx

Abstract

We present the first experimental investigation of deuteron fusion at thermal energy performed underground. Using deuterated palladium targets, we measured spontaneous proton emission attributed to nuclear fusion reactions between deuterons. Protons with energies around 3 MeV, consistent with the expected signature of the deutron-deutron fusion reaction, were observed in palladium foils. Despite extensive efforts, we found no evidence for the predicted 0+ resonance near the reaction threshold.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043070– Published 19 October, 2026
  • Received 22 April 2026
  • Accepted 17 September 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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