12C+12C Reaction Rates and the Evolution of a Massive Star

TL;DR

This study updates the 12C+12C reaction rates based on recent measurements and examines their impact on the evolution of a 20 solar mass star, finding some changes but minor compared to other uncertainties.

Contribution

It provides revised reaction rates from direct measurements and assesses their effects on stellar evolution simulations using MESA.

Findings

Updated reaction rates are 0.35 to 0.5 times lower than previous estimates.

Core temperature increases by about 7% with new rates.

Carbon-burning lifetime is reduced by a factor of 2.7.

Abstract

Carbon fusion is important to understand the late stages in the evolution of a massive star. Astronomically interesting energy ranges for the 12C+12C reactions have been, however, poorly constrained by experiments. Theoretical studies on stellar evolution have relied on reaction rates that are extrapolated from those measured in higher energies. In this work, we update the carbon fusion reaction rates by fitting the astrophysical S-factor data obtained from direct measurements based on the Fowler, Caughlan, & Zimmerman (1975) formula. We examine the evolution of a 20 M_sun star with the updated 12C+12C reaction rates performing simulations with the MESA (Modules for Experiments for Stellar Astrophysics) code. Between 0.5 and 1 GK, the updated reaction rates are 0.35 to 0.5 times less than the rates suggested by Caughlan and Fowler (1988). The updated rates result in the increase of core temperature by about 7% and of the neutrino cooling by about a factor of three. Moreover, the carbon-burning lifetime is reduced by a factor of 2.7. The updated carbon fusion reaction rates lead to some changes in the details of the stellar evolution model, their impact seems relatively minor compared to other uncertain physical factors like convection, overshooting, rotation, and mass-loss history. The astrophysical S-factor measurements in lower energies have large errors below the Coulomb barrier. More precise measurements in lower energies for the carbon burning would be useful to improve our study and to understand the evolution of a massive star.