On nuclear reaction rate theory

A fundamental problem in the theory of cosmological and stellar nucleosynthesis is the determination of reaction rates. The current theories of nuclear kinetics are equilibrium theories with a strict Maxwell-Boltzmann approach to the evaluation of reaction rates. This paper investigates in some detail the relation between the macroscopic nuclear reaction probability and the microscopic nuclear reaction cross section on the basis of equilibrium-thermodynamic arguments. A general form of the nuclear reaction probability is derived, and the most general collision probability integral is evaluated in closed form for all convenient values of the parameters by using random variables. (author)