$^{14}$N(p,$\gamma)^{15}$O $S$ factor and the puzzling solar composition problem
Abstract
In stellar hydrogen burning, the CNO cycle dominates, with the N(p,O reaction being the slowest process. Consequently, this reaction critically influences the solar composition, CNO neutrino fluxes, and the evolution of star clusters and galaxies. Recent direct measurements of N(p,O have reported an enhanced astrophysical -factor. This work presents a microscopic theoretical study of the N(p,O reaction using the Gamow shell model in the coupled-channel representation (GSM-CC). The calculations achieve good agreement with experimental data for both the total -factors and the separate contributions from transitions to the ground state and excited states of . However, the predicted -factor at zero energy exceeds the experimental value. Based on the computed -factors, the derived carbon and nitrogen abundances align closely with predictions from recent N(p,O cross-section measurements, yet remain significantly lower than the latest solar neutrino observation values.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2603.07056,
title = {$^{14}$N(p,$\gamma)^{15}$O $S$ factor and the puzzling solar composition problem},
author = {G. X. Dong and X. B. Wang and N. Michel and M. Płoszajczak},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.07056},
year = {2026}
}