Quantum three-body calculation of nonresonant triple-{alpha} reaction rate at low temperatures

Triple-{alpha} reaction rate is re-evaluated by directly solving the three-body Schroedinger equation. The resonant and nonresonant processes are treated on the same footing using the continuum-discretized coupled-channels method for three-body scattering. An accurate description of the {alpha}-{alpha} nonresonant states significantly quenches the Coulomb barrier between the first two {alpha}-particles and the third {alpha}-particle. Consequently, the{alpha}-{alpha} nonresonant continuum states give a markedly larger contribution at low temperatures than that reported in previous studies. We show that Nomoto's method for three-body nonresonant capture processes, which is adopted in the NACRE compilation and many other studies, is a crude approximation of the accurate quantum three-body model calculation. We find an increase in triple-{alpha} reaction rate by about 20 orders of magnitude around 10{sup 7} K compared with the rate of NACRE.