Muon-catalysed fusion
Also written µCF, muon-catalyzed fusion, muCF
A negative muon temporarily replaces an electron in a D-T (or D-D) molecule, pulling the nuclei roughly 200 times closer together than an electron would, so fusion happens at room temperature without confining a hot plasma at all. Added as its own branch of the fusion tree rather than filed under magnetic or inertial confinement, because it confines nothing: the muon does the work electromagnetically at the molecular scale. No net-energy device has been built: a muon typically catalyses only 100-150 fusions before it is captured by a helium nucleus and lost, and the main open problem is extending that cycle count, or cutting the cost of producing muons, enough to get more energy out than went into making them.
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