Quantum three-body calculation of nonresonant triple-alpha reaction rate at low temperatures

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3455923· OSTI ID:21362096

Ogata, Kazuyuki; Kan, Masataka ^[1]; Kamimura, Masayasu ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581 (Japan)

Triple-alpha reaction rate is re-evaluated by directly solving the three-body Schroedinger equation. The resonant and nonresonant processes are treated on the same footing using the continuum-discretized coupled-channels method for three-body scattering. An accurate description of the alpha-alpha nonresonant states significantly quenches the Coulomb barrier between the first two alpha-particles and the third alpha-particle. Consequently, the alpha-alpha nonresonant continuum states give a markedly larger contribution at low temperatures than that reported in previous studies. We show that Nomoto's method for three-body nonresonant capture processes, which is adopted in the NACRE compilation and many other studies, is a crude approximation of the accurate quantum three-body model calculation. We find an increase in triple-alpha reaction rate by 26 orders of magnitude around 10{sup 7} K compared with the rate of NACRE.

• OSTI ID: 21362096
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1238; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ALPHA PARTICLES
APPROXIMATIONS
CALCULATION METHODS
CHARGED PARTICLES
COULOMB FIELD
COUPLED CHANNEL THEORY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ENERGY
EQUATIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
KINETICS
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
POTENTIAL ENERGY
QUADRUPOLE MOMENTS
RADIATIONS
REACTION KINETICS
SCATTERING
SCHROEDINGER EQUATION
THREE-BODY PROBLEM
WAVE EQUATIONS