Recently, I have learn't about the Gamows factor, and I have plotted it. Then I realized that the probability of Deuterium and tritium fusing at a temperature of 150 million kelvin when they collide, was about 0.00048. But, I know that the nuclear cross section for fusion is extremely small (about 1-1000 barns). But why is this so? I f the probability of fusion is 0.00048 when they collide, then why is the nuclear cross section so small? Is it because of the collisions? Are the collisions really that rare? Is the collision cross section really that small? Why is the nuclear cross section so small?
- Here the x-axis is the temperature and the y-axis is the probability of fusion when a collision occurs.