Figure 1: Fusion reaction rate coefficients Thermonuclear fusion is governed by the rate coefficient 〈σv〉 for fusion reactions, which for a particular reaction is a function only of (ion) temperature T . For the D-T reaction its value is roughly 5× 10−22 m−3s−1 at T = 20keV, the typical operating temperature of proposed reactors. The rate peaks a factor of only 2 higher at about 60keV temperatu...

We analyze thermonuclear and pycnonuclear fusion reactions in dense matter containing atomic nuclei of different types. We extend a phenomenological expression for the reaction rate, proposed recently by Gasques et al. [11] for the one-component plasma of nuclei, to the multi-component plasma. The expression contains several fit parameters which we adjust to reproduce the best microscopic calcu...

Context. A promising model for normal Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosions are delayed detonations of Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs, in which the burning starts out as a subsonic deflagration and turns at a later phase of the explosion into a supersonic detonation. The mechanism of the underlying deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) is unknown in detail, but necessary conditions have b...

The abundances of the isotopes of the elements from C to Al produced by the non-explosive CNO, NeNa and MgAl modes of hydrogen burning, as well as by helium burning, are calculated with the thermonuclear rates recommended by the European compilation of reaction rates for astrophysics (NACRE). The impact of nuclear physics uncertainties on the derived abundances is discussed in the framework of ...