Nuclear-reaction networks and stellar evolution codes - The coupling of composition changes and energy release in explosive nuclear burning
Abstract
A robust method is presented for calculating abundance changes and entropy (or energy) generation with a nuclear-reaction network within a stellar evolution code in case of explosive nuclear burning. The robustness of the method is due to the fact that the rate equations and the entropy (or energy) equation are solved together by the Newton-Raphson technique. This guarantees that the strong temperature dependence of the nuclear-reaction rates does not lead to instabilities. The main advantage of the method is its capability to calculate nuclear transmutations while entering or leaving the regime of nuclear statistical equilibrium. This capability of the method is demonstrated for an extreme test case. In addition an efficient implementation of the method on vector processors is discussed.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- July 1986
- Bibcode:
- 1986A&A...162..103M
- Keywords:
-
- Abundance;
- Nuclear Astrophysics;
- Nuclear Fusion;
- Stellar Evolution;
- Stellar Physics;
- Energy Transfer;
- Entropy;
- Explosions;
- Newton-Raphson Method;
- Stellar Composition;
- Stellar Cores;
- Nuclear and High-Energy Physics