The triple alpha reaction rate and the 2+ resonances in 12C

Abstract

The triple alpha rate is obtained from the three-body bound and continuum states computed in a large box. The results from this genuine full three-body calculation are compared with standard reference rates obtained by two sequential two-body processes. The fairly good agreement relies on two different assumptions about the lowest 2+ resonance energy. With the same 2+ energy the rates from the full three-body calculation are smaller than those of the standard reference. We discuss the rate dependence on the experimentally unknown 2+ energy. Substantial deviations from previous results appear for temperatures above 3 GK. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.