- published: 10 Jul 2010
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The triple alpha process is a set of nuclear fusion reactions by which three helium-4 nuclei (alpha particles) are transformed into carbon.
Older stars start to accumulate helium produced by the proton–proton chain reaction and the carbon–nitrogen–oxygen cycle in their cores. The products of further nuclear fusion reactions of helium with hydrogen or another helium nucleus produce lithium-5 and beryllium-8 respectively, both of which are highly unstable and decay almost instantly back into smaller nuclei. When the star starts to run out of hydrogen to fuse, the core of the star begins to collapse until the central temperature rises to ~100×106 K (8.6 keV). At this point helium nuclei are fusing together at a rate high enough to rival the rate at which their product, beryllium-8, decays back into two helium nuclei. This means that there are always a few beryllium-8 nuclei in the core, which can fuse with yet another helium nucleus to form carbon-12, which is stable:
The net energy release of the process is 7.275 MeV.
The alpha process (or alpha reactions) is one of two classes of nuclear fusion reactions by which stars convert helium into heavier elements, the other being the triple-alpha process. While the triple-alpha process only requires helium, once some carbon is present, other reactions that consume helium are possible:
, Q = 7.16 МeV
, Q = 4.73 МeV
, Q = 9.31 МeV
, Q = 9.98 МeV
, Q = 6.95 МeV
All these reactions have a very low rate and therefore do not contribute significantly to the energy production in stars; with elements heavier than neon (atomic number > 10) they occur even less easily due to the increasing Coulomb barrier.
Alpha process elements (or alpha elements) are so-called since their most abundant isotopes are integer multiples of the mass of the helium nucleus (the alpha particle). Alpha elements are Z ≤ 22: (C, N), O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, Ti. They are synthesized by alpha-capture in the silicon fusing precursor state to Type II supernovae. Silicon and calcium are purely alpha process elements. Magnesium can be burned by proton capture reactions. As for oxygen, some authors[which?] consider it an alpha element, while others do not. Oxygen is surely an alpha element in low metallicity population II stars. It is produced in Type II supernovae and its enhancement is well correlated with an enhancement of other alpha process elements. Sometimes C and N are considered alpha process elements, since they are synthesized in nuclear alpha-capture reactions.
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