On the rates of breakup reactions in the solar interior

Abstract

The breakups of loosely bound d, 7Li, 7Be, and 8B nuclei in the solar core plasma caused by fast reaction-produced protons are examined. It is obtained that protons produced in the He3(He3,2p)α reaction can radically enhance these breakups, providing their rates at an appreciable level. The most significant effect is marked for the Be7(p,pα)He3 reaction whose rate can exceed the rates of some other channels of 7Be depletion in the plasma by several orders of magnitude. At the same time, the breakup rates are found to be insufficiently high to affect the abundances of neutrino-generating nuclides.