Enhancement of thermonuclear reaction rates in extremely dense stellar plasmas

Abstract

The enhancement factor of the thermonuclear reaction rates is calculated for the extremely dense stellar plasmas in the liquid phase where the condition 3Gamma/tau less than or equal to 1.6 is not necessarily imposed. Here the parameter 3Gamma/tau corresponds to the ratio of the classical turning point radius at the Gamow peak and the mean interionic distance in the case of the pure Coulomb potential. Direct double integration is carried out to obtain the thermonuclear reaction rates. The result is presented in the form of an analytic fitting formula to facilitate applications. The present fitting formula is valid for 3Gamma/tau = 0-5.4. The present calculation is intended to serve as the best available one for the case that ions are in the semiquantum regime. 7 refs.