We show that, in the framework of Deformed Special Relativity (DSR), namely a (four-dimensional) ... more We show that, in the framework of Deformed Special Relativity (DSR), namely a (four-dimensional) generalization of the (local) space-time structure based on an energy-dependent "deformation" of the usual Minkowski geometry, two kinds of gauge symmetries arise, whose spaces either coincide with the deformed Minkowski space or are just internal spaces to it. This is why we named them "metric gauge theories". In the case of the internal gauge fields, they are a consequence of the deformed Minkowski space (DMS) possessing the structure of a generalized Lagrange space. Such a geometrical structure allows one to define curvature and torsion in the DMS.
We show that cavitation of a solution of thorium-228 in water induces its transformation at a rat... more We show that cavitation of a solution of thorium-228 in water induces its transformation at a rate 10000 times faster than the natural radioactive decay would do. This result agrees with the alteration of the secular equilibrium of thorium-234 obtained by a Russian team via explosion of titanium foils in water and solutions. These evidences further support some preliminary clues for the possibility of piezonuclear reactions (namely nuclear reactions induced by pressure waves) obtained in the last ten years.
We discuss the possible violation of local Lorentz invariance (LLI) arising from a faster-than-li... more We discuss the possible violation of local Lorentz invariance (LLI) arising from a faster-than-light neutrino speed. A toy calculation of the LLI violation parameter [Formula: see text], based on the (disclaimed) OPERA data, suggests that the values of [Formula: see text] are determined by the interaction involved, and not by the energy range. This hypothesis is further corroborated by the analysis of the more recent results of the BOREXINO, LVD and ICARUS experiments.
Four cylindrical steel bars of 2 cm diameter and 20 cm height were subjected to compression cycle... more Four cylindrical steel bars of 2 cm diameter and 20 cm height were subjected to compression cycles each of them consisting of a loading phase at fixed stress rate followed by a rapid stress release. Different compression rates were used for the same sample. The area surrounding the loaded samples was monitored in order to check whether ionizing particles were emitted. To this aim, three ZnS(Ag) detectors, a Geiger counter, and some polycarbonate CR39 detectors of alpha particles were used. An 3 He proportional detector of neutrons was also used. The whole set of results is discussed and proposed as an evidence of alpha particles emission from the bars during the compression cycles.
Abstract: In this short note we would like to provide some useful remarks on our previous work ab... more Abstract: In this short note we would like to provide some useful remarks on our previous work about the piezonuclear decay of Thorium and in general about the methods and protocols that we used in the experiments on piezonuclear reactions. The purpose of ...
Abstract: We report the results obtained by cavitating water solutions of iron salts (iron chlori... more Abstract: We report the results obtained by cavitating water solutions of iron salts (iron chloride and iron nitrate) with different concentrations at different ultrasound powers. In all cases we detected a neutron radiation well higher than the background level. The neutron ...
The purpose of this paper is to place side by side the experimental results of Piezonuclear react... more The purpose of this paper is to place side by side the experimental results of Piezonuclear reactions, which have been recently unveiled, and those collected during the last twenty years of experiments on low energy nuclear reactions (LENR). We will briefly report the results of our campaign of piezonuclear reactions experiments where ultrasounds and cavitation were applied to solutions of stable elements. These outcomes will be shown to be compatible with the results and evidences obtained from low energy nuclear reaction experiments. Some theoretical concepts and ideas, on which our experiments are grounded, will be sketched and it will be shown that, in order to trigger our measured effects, it exists an energy threshold, that has to be overcome, and a maximum interval of time for this energy to be released to the nuclear system. Eventually, a research hypothesis will be put forward about the chance to raise the level of analogy from the mere comparison of results up to the phenomenological level. Here, among the various evidences collected in LENR experiments, we will search for hints about the overcome of the energy threshold and about the mechanism that releases the loaded energy in a suitable interval of time. 1 Evidences of Piezonuclear reactions All of the experiments that we have carried out, involved the application of ultrasounds with a frequency of 20 kHz and suitable power (most of the times around 100 W) to liquids. These liquids were either bidistilled deionised water [1, 2, 3] or solutions of bidistilleddeionised water and some standard chemical elememts [4, 5]. In the two experiments reported in [1, 2] samples of bidistilled and deionised water were subjected to cavitation 1 for different intervals of time: 210 minute long cavitation induced an increase of the proportion of a few high mass number stable isotopes (including uranium); four successive cavitations, each one lasting for 10 minutes, with 15 minutes between a cavitation and the next one, gave rise to an increase of the proportion of a few nuclear species within the particular atomic mass range 238<M<264 (including transuranic elements). In the third experiment [3], aimed at detecting elements in the so-called rare-earth mass range, ICP mass spectrometry of the solution was performed during five successive cavitations, each one lasting for 15 minutes (with 15-minutes intervals between a cavitation and the next one). The ICP-MS analysis gave evidence of a significant peak corresponding to a nuclide with atomic mass (137.93±0.01) amu and half-life 12±1 sec, identifed as Eu 138 63. It is known that the abundance on Earth of stable Eu is less than 1.06 ppm (the natural Eu is a mixture of two isotopes, Eu 151 63 with a percentage abundance of 47.77% and Eu 153 63 with a percentage abundance of 52.23%). The candidate identied during the third experiment, Eu 138 63 , does not exist in nature; it is an articial radionuclide (discovered in 1995-97 [6]) that can be produced at the present time in nuclear reactors and by synchrotrons. There are two ways whereby Eu 138 63 can be produced: by nuclear fission or by nuclear fusion. The former process requires less energy. However, from the results of the first two experiments, the quantity of heavy nuclei, which can produce Eu 138 63 by nuclear fission, is much smaller (by two-three orders of magnitude) than that of the intermediate nuclei that can produce it by fusion. It turns out that fusion intermediate of elements is more likely and besides it is the only possible explanation of the changes in concentration of stable elements, induced by cavitation, observed in the first experiments 2. The ionising radiation measurements, by LR115 detectors, that were carried out during the application of ultrasounds in all of these experiments, did not provide any evidence of ionising radiation above the background level. Further experiments were designed in order to try and detect possible neutron emission. We subjected to cavitation, bidistilled deionised water, solutions of Lithium, Aluminium, and Iron. No evidences of neutrons were collected with water Lithium and Aluminium.
We discuss the possibility of geometrizing interactions by exploiting the “principle of solidarit... more We discuss the possibility of geometrizing interactions by exploiting the “principle of solidarity” between space-time and the physical phenomena occurring in it (formulated by the Italian matematician B. Finzi in 1955). This is accomplished by means of a deformation of the Minkowski metric, implemented by assuming that the metric coefficients depend on the energy of the process considered. Such a formalism (“Deformed Special Relativity”) allows one, among the others, to deal with the breakdown of Lorentz invariance and to recover it in a generalized sense.
In a paper appearing in this issue of Phys. Lett. A, Ericsson et al. raise some critical comments... more In a paper appearing in this issue of Phys. Lett. A, Ericsson et al. raise some critical comments on the experiment [Phys. Lett. A 373 (2009) 1956] we carried out by cavitating a solution of thorium-228, which evidenced its anomalous decay behaviour, thus confirming the results previously obtained by Urutskoev et al. by explosion of titanium foils in solutions. In this letter, we reply to these comments. In our opinion, the main shortcomings of the criticism by the Swedish authors are due to their omitting of inserting our experiment in the wider research stream of piezonuclear reactions, and to the statistical analysis they used, which does not comply with the rules generally accepted for samples with small numbers. However, apart from any possible theoretical speculation, there is the basic fact that two different experiments (ours and that by Urutskoev et al.), carried out independently and by different means, highlight an analogous anomaly in the decay of thorium subjected to pressure waves. Such a convergence of results shows that it is worth to further carry on experimental investigations, in order to get either a confirmation or a disproof of the induced-pressure anomalous behaviour of radioactive nuclides even different from thorium.
Abstract: The recent measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS bea... more Abstract: The recent measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam, on whose basis it was found that (vc)/c=(2.48\ pm 0.28 (stat.)\ pm 0.30 (sys.)) 10e-5, does not contain any significant violation of Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI), since ...
On the basis of the results of some experiments dealing with the violation of Local Lorentz Invar... more On the basis of the results of some experiments dealing with the violation of Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI) and on the formalism of the Deformed Special Relativity (DSR), we examine the connections between the local geometrical structure of space-time and the foundation of Quantum Mechanics. We show that Quantum Mechanics, beside being an axiomatic theory, can be considered also a deductive physical theory, deducted from the primary physical principle of Relativistic Correlation. This principle is synonym of LLI and of a rigid and flat minkowskian space-time. The results of the experiments mentioned above show the breakdown of LLI and hence the violation of the principle of Relativistic Correlation. The formalism of DSR allows to highlight the deep meaning of LLI breakdown in terms of the geometrical structure of local space-time which, far from being rigid and flat, is deformed by the energy of the physical phenomena that take place and in this sense it has an active part in the dynamics of the whole physical process. This perspective has a far reaching physical meaning that extends its consequences to the foundations of Quantum
We report the results of a double-slit-like experiment in the infrared range, which evidence an a... more We report the results of a double-slit-like experiment in the infrared range, which evidence an anomalous behaviour of photon systems under particular (energy and space) constraints. The statistical analysis of these outcomes (independently confirmed by crossing photon beam experiments in both the optical and the microwave range) shows a significant departure from the predictions of both classical and quantum electrodynamics.
The determination of characteristic limits in the measurement of radioactive materials is an impo... more The determination of characteristic limits in the measurement of radioactive materials is an important aspect of low-level measurements and the underlying principles are well understood by scientists working on such measurements. ISO 11929:2010 provides a rigorous basis for the systematic calculation of detection limits, but may be difficult to interpret for the routine user. This paper attempts to simplify some of the more arcane aspects of this standard.
Characterization and calibration measurements were carried out at the National Institute of Ioniz... more Characterization and calibration measurements were carried out at the National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology of ENEA on the TAp WAter RAdioactivity (TAWARA) Real Time Monitor system recently developed for real time monitoring of radioactive contamination in water processed at water treatment facilities. Reference radiations and radionuclides were chosen in order to reflect energy ranges and radiation types of the major water radioactive contaminants possibly arising from environmental, industrial or terroristic origin. The following instrument parameters were tested: sensitivity, selectivity, background, short/long term stability, linearity with respect to activity.
The conditions of local Lorentz invariance (LLI) breakdown, obtained during neutron emission from... more The conditions of local Lorentz invariance (LLI) breakdown, obtained during neutron emission from a sonicated cylindrical bar of AISI 304 steel, were reproduced in a system made of a mole of mercury. After 3 min, a part of the liquid transformed into solid state material, in which isotopes were found with both higher and lower atomic mass with respect to the starting material. Changes in the atomic weight without production of gamma radiation and radionuclides are made possible by deformed space–time reactions.
Deformed Space-Time (DST) transformations are the consequence of the DST reactions induced in mat... more Deformed Space-Time (DST) transformations are the consequence of the DST reactions induced in matter by the variation in energy density, in conditions of broken Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI). Through the DST transformations, it is possible to change the atomic weight of matter without using ionizing radiations and avoiding radionuclide production. In this sense, we can call this change of atomic weight “nuclear metabarysis”. These phenomena of nuclear metabarysis are associated with neutron emission. We discuss an experiment of sonication of a steel bar (carried out in Rome in 2012), and analyze the energy distribution of the emitted neutrons. The main signatures of the neutron emission are its asymmetry and anisotropy. We compare these features of neutron emission with those of the Lorentz invariance breakdown, obtained by means of electromagnetic experiments some years ago.
We show that, in the framework of Deformed Special Relativity (DSR), namely a (four-dimensional) ... more We show that, in the framework of Deformed Special Relativity (DSR), namely a (four-dimensional) generalization of the (local) space-time structure based on an energy-dependent "deformation" of the usual Minkowski geometry, two kinds of gauge symmetries arise, whose spaces either coincide with the deformed Minkowski space or are just internal spaces to it. This is why we named them "metric gauge theories". In the case of the internal gauge fields, they are a consequence of the deformed Minkowski space (DMS) possessing the structure of a generalized Lagrange space. Such a geometrical structure allows one to define curvature and torsion in the DMS.
We show that cavitation of a solution of thorium-228 in water induces its transformation at a rat... more We show that cavitation of a solution of thorium-228 in water induces its transformation at a rate 10000 times faster than the natural radioactive decay would do. This result agrees with the alteration of the secular equilibrium of thorium-234 obtained by a Russian team via explosion of titanium foils in water and solutions. These evidences further support some preliminary clues for the possibility of piezonuclear reactions (namely nuclear reactions induced by pressure waves) obtained in the last ten years.
We discuss the possible violation of local Lorentz invariance (LLI) arising from a faster-than-li... more We discuss the possible violation of local Lorentz invariance (LLI) arising from a faster-than-light neutrino speed. A toy calculation of the LLI violation parameter [Formula: see text], based on the (disclaimed) OPERA data, suggests that the values of [Formula: see text] are determined by the interaction involved, and not by the energy range. This hypothesis is further corroborated by the analysis of the more recent results of the BOREXINO, LVD and ICARUS experiments.
Four cylindrical steel bars of 2 cm diameter and 20 cm height were subjected to compression cycle... more Four cylindrical steel bars of 2 cm diameter and 20 cm height were subjected to compression cycles each of them consisting of a loading phase at fixed stress rate followed by a rapid stress release. Different compression rates were used for the same sample. The area surrounding the loaded samples was monitored in order to check whether ionizing particles were emitted. To this aim, three ZnS(Ag) detectors, a Geiger counter, and some polycarbonate CR39 detectors of alpha particles were used. An 3 He proportional detector of neutrons was also used. The whole set of results is discussed and proposed as an evidence of alpha particles emission from the bars during the compression cycles.
Abstract: In this short note we would like to provide some useful remarks on our previous work ab... more Abstract: In this short note we would like to provide some useful remarks on our previous work about the piezonuclear decay of Thorium and in general about the methods and protocols that we used in the experiments on piezonuclear reactions. The purpose of ...
Abstract: We report the results obtained by cavitating water solutions of iron salts (iron chlori... more Abstract: We report the results obtained by cavitating water solutions of iron salts (iron chloride and iron nitrate) with different concentrations at different ultrasound powers. In all cases we detected a neutron radiation well higher than the background level. The neutron ...
The purpose of this paper is to place side by side the experimental results of Piezonuclear react... more The purpose of this paper is to place side by side the experimental results of Piezonuclear reactions, which have been recently unveiled, and those collected during the last twenty years of experiments on low energy nuclear reactions (LENR). We will briefly report the results of our campaign of piezonuclear reactions experiments where ultrasounds and cavitation were applied to solutions of stable elements. These outcomes will be shown to be compatible with the results and evidences obtained from low energy nuclear reaction experiments. Some theoretical concepts and ideas, on which our experiments are grounded, will be sketched and it will be shown that, in order to trigger our measured effects, it exists an energy threshold, that has to be overcome, and a maximum interval of time for this energy to be released to the nuclear system. Eventually, a research hypothesis will be put forward about the chance to raise the level of analogy from the mere comparison of results up to the phenomenological level. Here, among the various evidences collected in LENR experiments, we will search for hints about the overcome of the energy threshold and about the mechanism that releases the loaded energy in a suitable interval of time. 1 Evidences of Piezonuclear reactions All of the experiments that we have carried out, involved the application of ultrasounds with a frequency of 20 kHz and suitable power (most of the times around 100 W) to liquids. These liquids were either bidistilled deionised water [1, 2, 3] or solutions of bidistilleddeionised water and some standard chemical elememts [4, 5]. In the two experiments reported in [1, 2] samples of bidistilled and deionised water were subjected to cavitation 1 for different intervals of time: 210 minute long cavitation induced an increase of the proportion of a few high mass number stable isotopes (including uranium); four successive cavitations, each one lasting for 10 minutes, with 15 minutes between a cavitation and the next one, gave rise to an increase of the proportion of a few nuclear species within the particular atomic mass range 238<M<264 (including transuranic elements). In the third experiment [3], aimed at detecting elements in the so-called rare-earth mass range, ICP mass spectrometry of the solution was performed during five successive cavitations, each one lasting for 15 minutes (with 15-minutes intervals between a cavitation and the next one). The ICP-MS analysis gave evidence of a significant peak corresponding to a nuclide with atomic mass (137.93±0.01) amu and half-life 12±1 sec, identifed as Eu 138 63. It is known that the abundance on Earth of stable Eu is less than 1.06 ppm (the natural Eu is a mixture of two isotopes, Eu 151 63 with a percentage abundance of 47.77% and Eu 153 63 with a percentage abundance of 52.23%). The candidate identied during the third experiment, Eu 138 63 , does not exist in nature; it is an articial radionuclide (discovered in 1995-97 [6]) that can be produced at the present time in nuclear reactors and by synchrotrons. There are two ways whereby Eu 138 63 can be produced: by nuclear fission or by nuclear fusion. The former process requires less energy. However, from the results of the first two experiments, the quantity of heavy nuclei, which can produce Eu 138 63 by nuclear fission, is much smaller (by two-three orders of magnitude) than that of the intermediate nuclei that can produce it by fusion. It turns out that fusion intermediate of elements is more likely and besides it is the only possible explanation of the changes in concentration of stable elements, induced by cavitation, observed in the first experiments 2. The ionising radiation measurements, by LR115 detectors, that were carried out during the application of ultrasounds in all of these experiments, did not provide any evidence of ionising radiation above the background level. Further experiments were designed in order to try and detect possible neutron emission. We subjected to cavitation, bidistilled deionised water, solutions of Lithium, Aluminium, and Iron. No evidences of neutrons were collected with water Lithium and Aluminium.
We discuss the possibility of geometrizing interactions by exploiting the “principle of solidarit... more We discuss the possibility of geometrizing interactions by exploiting the “principle of solidarity” between space-time and the physical phenomena occurring in it (formulated by the Italian matematician B. Finzi in 1955). This is accomplished by means of a deformation of the Minkowski metric, implemented by assuming that the metric coefficients depend on the energy of the process considered. Such a formalism (“Deformed Special Relativity”) allows one, among the others, to deal with the breakdown of Lorentz invariance and to recover it in a generalized sense.
In a paper appearing in this issue of Phys. Lett. A, Ericsson et al. raise some critical comments... more In a paper appearing in this issue of Phys. Lett. A, Ericsson et al. raise some critical comments on the experiment [Phys. Lett. A 373 (2009) 1956] we carried out by cavitating a solution of thorium-228, which evidenced its anomalous decay behaviour, thus confirming the results previously obtained by Urutskoev et al. by explosion of titanium foils in solutions. In this letter, we reply to these comments. In our opinion, the main shortcomings of the criticism by the Swedish authors are due to their omitting of inserting our experiment in the wider research stream of piezonuclear reactions, and to the statistical analysis they used, which does not comply with the rules generally accepted for samples with small numbers. However, apart from any possible theoretical speculation, there is the basic fact that two different experiments (ours and that by Urutskoev et al.), carried out independently and by different means, highlight an analogous anomaly in the decay of thorium subjected to pressure waves. Such a convergence of results shows that it is worth to further carry on experimental investigations, in order to get either a confirmation or a disproof of the induced-pressure anomalous behaviour of radioactive nuclides even different from thorium.
Abstract: The recent measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS bea... more Abstract: The recent measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam, on whose basis it was found that (vc)/c=(2.48\ pm 0.28 (stat.)\ pm 0.30 (sys.)) 10e-5, does not contain any significant violation of Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI), since ...
On the basis of the results of some experiments dealing with the violation of Local Lorentz Invar... more On the basis of the results of some experiments dealing with the violation of Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI) and on the formalism of the Deformed Special Relativity (DSR), we examine the connections between the local geometrical structure of space-time and the foundation of Quantum Mechanics. We show that Quantum Mechanics, beside being an axiomatic theory, can be considered also a deductive physical theory, deducted from the primary physical principle of Relativistic Correlation. This principle is synonym of LLI and of a rigid and flat minkowskian space-time. The results of the experiments mentioned above show the breakdown of LLI and hence the violation of the principle of Relativistic Correlation. The formalism of DSR allows to highlight the deep meaning of LLI breakdown in terms of the geometrical structure of local space-time which, far from being rigid and flat, is deformed by the energy of the physical phenomena that take place and in this sense it has an active part in the dynamics of the whole physical process. This perspective has a far reaching physical meaning that extends its consequences to the foundations of Quantum
We report the results of a double-slit-like experiment in the infrared range, which evidence an a... more We report the results of a double-slit-like experiment in the infrared range, which evidence an anomalous behaviour of photon systems under particular (energy and space) constraints. The statistical analysis of these outcomes (independently confirmed by crossing photon beam experiments in both the optical and the microwave range) shows a significant departure from the predictions of both classical and quantum electrodynamics.
The determination of characteristic limits in the measurement of radioactive materials is an impo... more The determination of characteristic limits in the measurement of radioactive materials is an important aspect of low-level measurements and the underlying principles are well understood by scientists working on such measurements. ISO 11929:2010 provides a rigorous basis for the systematic calculation of detection limits, but may be difficult to interpret for the routine user. This paper attempts to simplify some of the more arcane aspects of this standard.
Characterization and calibration measurements were carried out at the National Institute of Ioniz... more Characterization and calibration measurements were carried out at the National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology of ENEA on the TAp WAter RAdioactivity (TAWARA) Real Time Monitor system recently developed for real time monitoring of radioactive contamination in water processed at water treatment facilities. Reference radiations and radionuclides were chosen in order to reflect energy ranges and radiation types of the major water radioactive contaminants possibly arising from environmental, industrial or terroristic origin. The following instrument parameters were tested: sensitivity, selectivity, background, short/long term stability, linearity with respect to activity.
The conditions of local Lorentz invariance (LLI) breakdown, obtained during neutron emission from... more The conditions of local Lorentz invariance (LLI) breakdown, obtained during neutron emission from a sonicated cylindrical bar of AISI 304 steel, were reproduced in a system made of a mole of mercury. After 3 min, a part of the liquid transformed into solid state material, in which isotopes were found with both higher and lower atomic mass with respect to the starting material. Changes in the atomic weight without production of gamma radiation and radionuclides are made possible by deformed space–time reactions.
Deformed Space-Time (DST) transformations are the consequence of the DST reactions induced in mat... more Deformed Space-Time (DST) transformations are the consequence of the DST reactions induced in matter by the variation in energy density, in conditions of broken Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI). Through the DST transformations, it is possible to change the atomic weight of matter without using ionizing radiations and avoiding radionuclide production. In this sense, we can call this change of atomic weight “nuclear metabarysis”. These phenomena of nuclear metabarysis are associated with neutron emission. We discuss an experiment of sonication of a steel bar (carried out in Rome in 2012), and analyze the energy distribution of the emitted neutrons. The main signatures of the neutron emission are its asymmetry and anisotropy. We compare these features of neutron emission with those of the Lorentz invariance breakdown, obtained by means of electromagnetic experiments some years ago.
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Papers by A. Petrucci