ABSTRACT
A neutron-rich nucleus is unstable and will convert spontaneously into another nucleus with an extra proton through the weak nuclear force. The main difficulty lies in bringing the hydrogen nuclei close enough for the attractive nuclear force to overcome the electrical repulsion. In other words, when a neutron inside a nucleus is able to decay through the weak nuclear force into a proton, an electron, and a neutrino, the nucleus is transmuted into a different nucleus. Thousands of nuclear reactions have been studied since Rutherford’s time, most of them artificially produced with the aid of the particle accelerators invented during the 1930s. Nuclear reactions have practical applications in archeology, medicine, and industry. The main difficulty lies in bringing the hydrogen nuclei close enough for the attractive nuclear force to overcome the electrical repulsion. Two techniques have been proposed for a practical fusion reactor: magnetic confinement and laser fusion.
