Past exam of the sub-atomic physics course of the University of Oxford / 2016 / 3 / b

The radiation registered in the stated solar luminosity includes two Positron annihilations but excludes the two escaping neutrinos. Thus the visible energy per completed helium-producing chain isThe signs in this energy ledger matter: adding the neutrino energy would overestimate the energy available to sustain the measured radiation. Using $1\mathrm{MeV}=1.602176634\times 10^{-13}$ J, the chain rate and hydrogen-consumption rate areWith a year taken as $365.25$ days, the stated elapsed time is $1.4516496\times 10^{17}$ s. Consequently,At the same fixed luminosity, the remaining time would beOnly about $5.93\%$ of the stipulated initial reservoir has been consumed under these assumptions. This is a calculation for an entirely accessible hydrogen reservoir with constant luminosity. It is not a prediction of the Sun's remaining main-sequence lifetime: only part of the hydrogen participates in core burning, and stellar structure and luminosity evolve.