Repulsive Interactions Between Neutrons Power the Sun

Cradle of the Nuclides

This is a 3-D plot of potential energy per nucleon, M/A, versus charge density, Z/A, versus atomic mass number, A, for all 2,850 currently known isotopes of the elements [ Nuclear Wallet Cards , 6 th edition (Brookhaven National Laboratory, National Nuclear Data Center, Upton, NY, 2000) 74 pp.]. The vertical axis is identical to f + 1, where f = Aston's nuclear packing fraction = (M–A)/A. Systematic properties of these 2,850 nuclides revealed repulsive interactions between neutrons in the solar core as the driving force that causes a series of reactions to produce solar luminosity, solar neutrinos, and the solar wind [“Neutron repulsion confirmed as energy source”, Journal of Fusion Energy 20 (2001) pages 197-201 http://web.umr.edu/~om/abstracts2003/jfe-neutronrep.pdf ]