English

$^{14}$N(p,$\gamma)^{15}$O $S$ factor and the puzzling solar composition problem

Nuclear Theory 2026-03-27 v1

Abstract

In stellar hydrogen burning, the CNO cycle dominates, with the 14^{14}N(p,γ)15\gamma)^{15}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 14^{14}N(p,γ)15\gamma)^{15}O have reported an enhanced astrophysical SS-factor. This work presents a microscopic theoretical study of the 14^{14}N(p,γ)15\gamma)^{15}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 SS-factors and the separate contributions from transitions to the ground state and excited states of 15O^{15}\mathrm{O}. However, the predicted SS-factor at zero energy exceeds the experimental value. Based on the computed SS-factors, the derived carbon and nitrogen abundances align closely with predictions from recent 14^{14}N(p,γ)15\gamma)^{15}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}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:08:16.899Z