Fusion rates in nuclear plasmas
arXiv:nucl-th/0012002 · doi:10.1142/9789812811356_0031
Abstract
Energy and momentum of the elementary excitations become independent variables in medium: energy and momentum statistical distributions are not identical. The momentum distribution and not the energy distribution is relevant for barrier penetration. The deviations of the momentum distribution from the Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distribution can be expressed in terms of the imaginary part of the self-energy of the quasi-particle. It is possible to obtain an effective Tsallis' distribution for the kinetic energy. These effects are different from static or dynamical screening and can have important consequences for reaction rates in stars.
8 pages, no figures, uses ws-p8-50x6-00.cls, proceedings of "VIII Convegno di Fisica Nucleare Teorica, Cortona, 18-21 Ottobre 2000"