Stellar nuclear fusion (Bethe)
Fusión nuclear como fuente de energía de las estrellas
- Date
- 1939 · confidence high
- Place
- Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States
- Credited to
- Hans Bethe; Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker; Arthur Eddington
- People
- 👤 Arthur Stanley Eddington1882–1944👤 Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker1912–2007👤 Hans Bethe1906–2005
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Bethe identifies the proton-proton and CNO chains by which hydrogen fuses into helium, releasing the energy that makes the Sun and stars shine. It solves the long-standing problem of the Sun's energy source.
Weizsäcker proposed the CNO cycle independently in 1938. Nobel Prize for Bethe in 1967. Coordinate with astronomy.
What it led to
- Nuclear astrophysics and nucleosynthesis (B2FH, 1957)
- Hydrogen bomb (1952)
- Research into controlled fusion (tokamak, NIF)
- Solar neutrino problem
Built on
- Mass-energy equivalence (E = mc²)1905
- Quantum tunnelling1928
- Tunnelling effect (Gamow)
- Atkinson and Houtermans (1929)
- Measurement of hydrogen abundance in stars (Payne, 1925)
Made possible
- Spitzer's stellarator1951
- ITER international fusion experiment2007-2025
- Thermonuclear weapon
- Experimental fusion reactors (ITER)