Electron screening effect on stellar thermonuclear fusion

Abstract

We study the impact of plasma correlation effects on nonresonant thermonuclear reactions for various stellar objects, namely in the liquid envelopes of neutron stars, and the interiors of white dwarfs, low-mass stars, and substellar objects. We examine in particular the effect of electron screening on the enhancement of thermonuclear reactions in dense plasmas within and beyond the linear mixing rule approximation as well as the corrections due to quantum effects at high density. In addition, we examine some recent unconventional (Yukawa-potential and "quantum-tail") theoretical results on stellar thermonuclear fusions and show that these scenarios do not apply to stellar conditions.