Energy Production in Stars

1 March 1939

journal article
research article
Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review B

Vol. 55 (5) , 434-456
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrev.55.434

Abstract

It is shown that the most important source of energy in ordinary stars is the reactions of carbon and nitrogen with protons. These reactions form a cycle in which the original nucleus is reproduced, viz.

C^{12}

+H=

N^{13}

N^{13} = C^{13} + ε^{+}

C^{13}

+H=

N^{14}

N^{14}

+H=

O^{15}

O^{15} = N^{15} + ε^{+}

N^{15}

+H=

C^{12}

{He}^{4}

. Thus carbon and nitrogen merely serve as catalysts for the combination of four protons (and two electrons) into an

α

-particle (§7).

Keywords

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