Theory

The pico-cluster is characterized as a condensed matter soliton or a nucleated bubble of an exciton-polariton condensate. It consists of a high density of particles constrained by a domain wall. The domain wall confines the particles and fields that exist inside the cluster by a magnetic barrier.

It is the magnetic barrier that seems to increase in strength as the energy inside the cluster increases. It is a macroscopic quantum coherent state. The high particle density (∼10^21 in a micron volume) implies a state of matter similar to a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) but composed of quasiparticles (exciton-polaritons).

This magnetic field is generated by the collective motion of the particles. In a coherent condensate, the individual magnetic moments or the supercurrents circulating the "domain wall" boundary add constructively.

 The cluster becomes unstable not because the magnetic field but because the particle density grows too high.

The break-up of clusters is by nature destructive as it transmutes materials that the cluster intercepts with. The destructive nature increases exponentially with the larger size of the cluster. By using a small (10 watt) reactor core, the destructive nature of the pico-cluster is eliminated. This explains why the tube is made with the small dimensions length = 25 mm dia = 9 mm and only 10W power.