Temperature dependence of modified CNO nuclear reaction rates in dense stellar plasmas

✍ Scribed by F Ferro; A Lavagno; P Quarati

• Book ID: 103881366
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 240 KB
• Volume: 340
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0378-4371
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2004.04.043

✦ Synopsis

We study the dependence of the CNO nuclear reaction rates on temperature, in the range of 10 7 -10 8 K, the typical range of temperature evolution from a Sun-like star towards a white dwarf. We show that the temperature dependence of the CNO nuclear reaction rates is strongly a ected by the presence of non-extensive statistical e ects in the dense stellar core. A very small deviation from the Maxwell-Boltzmann particle distribution implies a relevant enhancement of the CNO reaction rate and could explain the presence of heavier elements (e.g. Fe, Mg) in the ÿnal composition of a white dwarf core. Such a behavior is consistent with the recent experimental upper limit to the fraction of energy that the Sun produces via the CNO fusion cycle.