The role of electron-screening deformations in solar nuclear fusion reactions and the solar neutrino puzzle

Abstract

Thermonuclear fusion reaction rates in the solar plasma are enhanced by the presence of the electron cloud that screens fusing nuclei. The present work studies the influence of electron screening deformations on solar reaction rates in the framework of the Debye-Huckel model. These electron-ion cloud deformations, assumed here to be static and axially symmetric, are shown to be able to considerably influence the solar neutrino fluxes of the pp and the CNO chains, with reasonable changes in the macroscopic parameters of the standard solar model (SSM) . Various known deformation sources are discussed but none of them is found strong enough to have a significant impact on the SSM neutrino fluxes.