Sensitivity of the C and O production on the 3 alpha rate

Abstract

We investigate the dependence of the carbon and oxygen production in stars on the 3alpha rate by varying the energy of the 0(2)(+)-state of (12)C and determine the resulting yields for a selection of low-mass, intermediate-mass and massive stars. The yields are obtained using modern stellar evolution codes that follow the entire evolution of massive stars, including the supernova explosion, and consider in detail the 3rd dredge-up process during the thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch of low-mass and intermediate-mass stars. Our results show that the C and O production in massive stars depends strongly on the initial mass, and that it is crucial to follow the entire evolution. A rather strong C production during the He-shell flashes compared to quiescent He burning leads to a lower sensitivity of the C and O production in low-mass and intermediate-mass stars on the 3alpha-rate than predicted in our previous work. In particular, the C production of intermediate-mass stars seems to have a maximum close to the actual value of the 0(2)(+) energy level of (12)C.