Stellar nucleosynthesis is the research area concerned with the nuclear processes by which chemical elements are formed and transformed within stars and related astrophysical environments. It encompasses hydrogen burning (pp-chains, CNO cycles), helium burning, advanced hydrostatic burning stages (carbon, neon, oxygen, silicon burning), and explosive nucleosynthesis in supernovae and neutron-star-related events. The field integrates nuclear reaction theory and measurements, stellar structure and evolution modeling, and observational constraints from stellar spectra and isotopic abundances. A central focus is quantifying reaction rates and yields to explain the origin and distribution of isotopes in the cosmos and to constrain models of stellar evolution and galactic chemical evolution.
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