American chemist William Draper Harkins was the first to propose the concept of nuclear fusion in 1915. Then in 1921, Arthur Eddington suggested hydrogen–helium fusion could … 展开

An important fusion process is the stellar nucleosynthesis that powers stars, including the Sun. In the 20th century, it was recognized that the energy released from nuclear fusion reactions accounts for the longevity of stellar heat and light. The fusion of nuclei in a star, … 展开

Thermonuclear fusion
Thermonuclear fusion is the process of atomic nuclei combining or "fusing" using high temperatures to drive them close enough together for this to become possible. Such temperatures cause the matter to become a 展开

Stellar reaction chains
At the temperatures and densities in stellar cores, the rates of fusion reactions are notoriously slow. For example, at solar core temperature (T ≈ 15 … 展开

The release of energy with the fusion of light elements is due to the interplay of two opposing forces: the nuclear force, a manifestation of the strong interaction, which holds protons and … 展开

A substantial energy barrier of electrostatic forces must be overcome before fusion can occur. At large distances, two naked nuclei repel one another … 展开

The key problem in achieving thermonuclear fusion is how to confine the hot plasma. Due to the high temperature, the plasma cannot be in direct contact with any solid material, so it has to be located in a vacuum. Also, high temperatures imply high pressures. The … 展开