= Charles Louis Critchfield
{c}
{tag=Physicist}
= Charles Critchfield
{c}
{synonym}
= C. L. Critchfield
{c}
{synonym}
<Charles Louis Critchfield> and <Hans Bethe> calculated the rate at which two <protons> can form a <deuteron>, initiating the <proton–proton chain>. In modern notation the reaction is $p+p\to d+e^++\nu_e$: one <proton> changes into a <neutron> through the <weak interaction>. Their 1938 calculation combined penetration of the repulsive potential barrier with the probability of the nuclear transition. This joins two physically different obstacles to <stellar nuclear fusion>: getting the charged particles close together and converting their nuclear composition.<The Formation of Deuterons by Proton Combination by Hans Albrecht Bethe and Charles Louis Critchfield>[Abstract, barrier penetration and Fermi-theory positron-emission calculation]{ref}
A <physicist>.https://www.ias.edu/scholars/charles-louis-critchfield[Independent professional profile]{ref}https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/charles-critchfield/[Independent professional profile]{ref}
\Image[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Charles_Critchfield_ID_badge.gif]
{title=Portrait of <Charles Louis Critchfield>}
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