Science Colloquium
Stellar Nuclear Energy Generation II:
Thermonuclear Reactions From H to Fe
Shahn Nadeau
Bishop's University
Friday, January 26, 2007
12:30 - 1:20 PM
Hamilton Room 302
For millennia humankind has wondered at the internal mechanisms of the Sun and stars. Only with the advent of Quantum Mechanics and its application to Nuclear Physics have we been able to glean an understanding of the complex workings of stellar interiors. This talk will be the conclusion of our investigation of stellar nuclear energy generation, having as its focus a more detailed and technical look at the thermonuclear physics involved. Topics to be discussed include reaction rate cross-sections, reaction probabilities, electron screening in both the weak and strong degeneracy regimes, and neutrino energy losses.
