Energy Production in Stars

Abstract

It is shown that the most important source of energy in ordinary stars is the reactions of carbon and nitrogen with protons. These reactions form a cycle in which the original nucleus is reproduced, viz. ${\mathrm{C}}^{12}$+H=${\mathrm{N}}^{13}$, ${\mathrm{N}}^{13}={\mathrm{C}}^{13}+{\epsilon }^{+}$, ${\mathrm{C}}^{13}$+H=${\mathrm{N}}^{14}$, ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}$+H=${\mathrm{O}}^{15}$, ${\mathrm{O}}^{15}={\mathrm{N}}^{15}+{\epsilon }^{+}$, ${\mathrm{N}}^{15}$+H=${\mathrm{C}}^{12}$ +${\mathrm{He}}^4$. Thus carbon and nitrogen merely serve as catalysts for the combination of four protons (and two electrons) into an $\alpha$-particle (§7).