Solved! Long-Standing Mystery About Ability of Carbon to Form in Stars

[n2doc]

If the Hoyle state did not exist, only very little carbon or other higher elements such as oxygen, nitrogen and iron could have formed. Without this type of carbon nucleus, life probably also would not have been possible.

For carbon -- the basis of life -- to be able to form in the stars, a certain state of the carbon nucleus plays an essential role. In cooperation with US colleagues, physicists from the University of Bonn and Ruhr-Universitat Bochum have been able to calculate this legendary carbon nucleus, solving a problem that has kept science guessing for more than 50 years.

"Attempts to calculate the Hoyle state have been unsuccessful since 1954," said Professor Dr. Ulf-G. Meißner (Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen-und Kernphysik der Universität Bonn). "But now, we have done it!"

The Hoyle state is an energy-rich form of the carbon nucleus. It is the mountain pass over which all roads from one valley to the next lead: From the three nuclei of helium gas to the much larger carbon nucleus. This fusion reaction takes place in the hot interior of heavy stars.

more
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/05/solved-long-standing-mystery-about-ability-of-carbon-to-form-in-stars-the-basis-of-life.html#more

[Jim__]

1. Sounds like this could answer some of the questions about the universal constants.

"For the Hoyle state this means that it must have exactly the amount of energy it has, or else we would not exist," said Meißner. "Now we can calculate whether -- in a changed world with other parameters -- the Hoyle state would indeed have a different energy when comparing the mass of three helium nuclei." If this is so, this would confirm the anthropic principle that the Universe is conducive to life.

That will be interesting to see.