ABSTRACT
Processes like hydrogen and helium burning, where the stellar energy loss is dominated by the photon luminosity, choose temperatures with energy generation rates equal to the radiation losses. For the later burning stages neutrino losses play the dominant role among cooling processes and the burning timescales are determined by temperatures where neutrino losses are equal to the energy generation rate. Explosive events are determined by hydrodynamics, causing different temperatures and timescales for the burning of available fuel. We can generalize the question by defining a burning timescale according to Eq. (4.15) for the destruction of the major fuel nuclei τ i = Y i Y ˙ i . $$ \tau _{i} = \frac{{Y_{i} }}{{\dot{Y}_{i} }}. $$ https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429492457/88134927-70ef-4f65-bfd4-59ee3ee1434d/content/math5_1.tif"/>
