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In astrophysics, stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a predictive theory, it yields accurate estimates of the observed abundances of the elements.
The products of stellar nucleosynthesis are generally dispersed into the interstellar gas through mass loss episodes and the stellar winds of low mass stars. The mass loss events can be witnessed today in the planetary nebulae phase of low-mass star evolution, and the explosive ending of stars, called supernovae , of those with more than eight ...
The B 2 FH paper was ostensibly a review article summarising recent advances in the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. [8] However, it went beyond simply reviewing Hoyle's work, by incorporating observational measurements of elemental abundances published by the Burbidges, and Fowler's laboratory experiments on nuclear reactions.
The s-process is believed to occur mostly in asymptotic giant branch stars, seeded by iron nuclei left by a supernova during a previous generation of stars. In contrast to the r-process which is believed to occur over time scales of seconds in explosive environments, the s-process is believed to occur over time scales of thousands of years, passing decades between neutron captures.
Today, nucleosynthesis is widely considered to have taken place in two stages: formation of hydrogen and helium according to the Alpher–Bethe–Gamow theory, and stellar nucleosynthesis of higher elements according to Bethe and Hoyle's later theories.
The x-process in cosmic rays is the primary means of nucleosynthesis for the five stable isotopes of lithium, beryllium, and boron. [2] As the proton–proton chain reaction cannot proceed beyond 4 He due to the unbound nature of 5 He and 5 Li, [ 3 ] and the triple-alpha process skips over all species between 4 He and 12 C, these elements are ...
This was part of the body of work in stellar nucleosynthesis for which Bethe won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967. The proton–proton chain
The second of Hoyle's nucleosynthesis papers also introduced an interesting use of the anthropic principle, which was not then known by that name. In trying to work out the steps of stellar nucleosynthesis , Hoyle calculated that one particular nuclear reaction, the triple-alpha process , which generates carbon from helium, would require the ...