Nuclear Reactions
Some have argued that the Rayleigh-Plesset equation described above is unreliable for predicting bubble temperatures and that actual temperatures in sonoluminescing systems can be far higher than 20,000 Kelvin. Some research claims to have measured temperatures as high as 100,000 Kelvin, and speculates temperatures could reach into the millions of Kelvin. Temperatures this high could cause thermonuclear fusion. This possibility is sometimes referred to as bubble fusion and is likened to the implosion design used in the fusion component of thermonuclear weapons.
On January 27, 2006, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute claimed to have produced fusion in sonoluminescence experiments.
Experiments (2002, 2005) of R. P. Taleyarkhan using deuterated acetone showed measurements of tritium and neutron output consistent with fusion but the low quality of the papers and the doubts cast by the report into his scientific misconduct had made him lose all credibility that he formerly had amongst the scientific community. On August 27, 2008 he was stripped of his named Arden Bement Jr. Professorship, and forbidden to be a thesis advisor for graduate students for at least the next 3 years.
Read more about this topic: Sonoluminescence
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