Stau-catalyzed Nuclear Fusion

Abstract

We point out that the stau may play a role of a catalyst for nuclear fusions if the stau is a long-lived particle as in the scenario of gravitino dark matter. In this letter, we consider d d fusion under the influence of stau where the fusion is enhanced because of a short distance between the two deuterons. We find that one chain of the d d fusion may release an energy of O(10) GeV per stau. We discuss problems of making the stau-catalyzed nuclear fusion of practical use with the present technology of producing stau.