Thermonuclear Reaction Rates

It is shown that the thermonuclear reaction rate between two gases in thermal equilibrium and of densities n 1 and n 2 nuclei per unit volume can be written as n 1 n 2 <σν> where <σν> is a suitable average of the product of the reaction cross section and relative velocity, and for any reaction is a function of temperature alone. These functions are given for a number of exoergic reactions between light nuclei.