Nucleation Based Explanation of Crystalloluminescence

In crystalloluminescence light is produced during crystallization. While there was work on crystalloluminescence during the 18th, 19th and very early 20th centuries, crystalloluminescence is a phenomena without scientific explanation. A new nucleation theory, based on a cluster population balance accounting for all possible cluster-cluster collisions, is presented that uses the energetics of clusters of various geometries determined from ab initio quantum mechanical calculations. This theory predicts cluster population dynamics during nucleation, as well as the spectrum of light emitted during nucleation due to the energy released by clusters activated by collision. Further experimental work is suggested to determine the nature of the light spectrum resulting from crystalloluminescence to validate this mechanism of light production