| 3 alpha process | nucleosynthetic reaction | A nuclear reaction (3 4He → 12C + γ + 7 MeV) by which helium is transformed into carbon. The process is dominant in red giants. At a temperature of about 2 × 108 K and a density of 105 g cm-3, after core hydrogen is exhausted, three α-particles can fuse to form an excited nucleus of carbon 12, which occasionally decays into a stable carbon 12 nucleus. The overall process can be looked upon as an equilibrium between three helium nuclei and the excited 12C*, with occasional irreversible leakage out of the equilibrium into the ground state of carbon 12. Further capture of α-particles by carbon 12 nuclei produces oxygen 16 and neon 20. (also called the triple-α process) |
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