The Salpeter plasma correction for solar fusion reactions

Abstract

We review five different derivations that demonstrate that the Salpeter formula for the plasma corrections to fusion rates is valid at the center of the sun with insignificant errors (~ percent). We point out errors in several recent papers that have obtained a variety of answers, some even with the wrong sign or the wrong functional dependence.

Comments: Related information at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~jnb