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Influence of section correction factor on the decay thermonuclear reactions and heating in the Earth interior.

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Title: Influence of section correction factor on the decay thermonuclear reactions and heating in the Earth interior.
Authors: Liu, Jing-Jing1 (AUTHOR) liujingjing68@126.com, Liu, Dong-Mei1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Modern Physics Letters A. 6/28/2026, Vol. 41 Issue 20, p1-21. 21p.
Subjects: Heat flux, Nuclear cross sections, Magnetic monopoles, Proton decay, Geothermal resources, Radioactive decay, Planetary interiors, Thermonuclear fusion
Abstract: The heat source of the Earth's core remains a challenging and intriguing problem in astrophysics. This paper first examines the Earth's heat flux arising from radiogenic heating due to the decay of isotopes such as 2 6 Al, 6 0 Fe, 2 3 8 U, 2 3 5 U, 2 3 2 Th and 4 0 K. We then propose two magnetic monopole (MM) models to address the Earth's heating problem, based on MM-catalyzed nuclear decay while accounting for the influence of the cross-section correction factor on the reaction rates. We calculate the number of captured magnetic monopoles and the resulting luminosity, and we discuss the upper limits on the MM flux derived from experimentally measured heat fluxes. Our results indicate that 2 6 Al and 6 0 Fe likely played a critical role during the earliest stages of planetary evolution, whereas the radiogenic energy from the decay of 2 3 8 U, 2 3 5 U, 2 3 2 Th and 4 0 K is insufficient to account for the molten state of the Earth's core. The estimated number of MMs captured by the Earth is 9. 5 2 3 4 × 1 0 1 8 , and 1. 4 1 2 8 × 1 0 2 0 for models (I) and (II), respectively. Furthermore, we find that the inclusion of the cross-section correction factor significantly enhances the luminosity due to catalyzed thermonuclear reactions in the Earth's iron core. The resulting luminosities for the Earth are estimated to be 7. 5 2 7 9 ∼ 9. 2 4 6 2 TW, and 3 1. 6 4 4 ∼ 4 9. 2 0 4 TW for models (I) and (II), respectively. By accounting for the influence of the correction factor on the decay cross-section, the luminosities computed for our Model (II) are in good agreement with the recently estimated terrestrial heat flow of 3 8 ∼ 4 9 TW from the Earth's surface. Our findings indicate that monopole-catalyzed proton decay may represent a mechanism capable of inhibiting the cooling process of the Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Abstract:The heat source of the Earth's core remains a challenging and intriguing problem in astrophysics. This paper first examines the Earth's heat flux arising from radiogenic heating due to the decay of isotopes such as 2 6 Al, 6 0 Fe, 2 3 8 U, 2 3 5 U, 2 3 2 Th and 4 0 K. We then propose two magnetic monopole (MM) models to address the Earth's heating problem, based on MM-catalyzed nuclear decay while accounting for the influence of the cross-section correction factor on the reaction rates. We calculate the number of captured magnetic monopoles and the resulting luminosity, and we discuss the upper limits on the MM flux derived from experimentally measured heat fluxes. Our results indicate that 2 6 Al and 6 0 Fe likely played a critical role during the earliest stages of planetary evolution, whereas the radiogenic energy from the decay of 2 3 8 U, 2 3 5 U, 2 3 2 Th and 4 0 K is insufficient to account for the molten state of the Earth's core. The estimated number of MMs captured by the Earth is 9. 5 2 3 4 × 1 0 1 8 , and 1. 4 1 2 8 × 1 0 2 0 for models (I) and (II), respectively. Furthermore, we find that the inclusion of the cross-section correction factor significantly enhances the luminosity due to catalyzed thermonuclear reactions in the Earth's iron core. The resulting luminosities for the Earth are estimated to be 7. 5 2 7 9 ∼ 9. 2 4 6 2 TW, and 3 1. 6 4 4 ∼ 4 9. 2 0 4 TW for models (I) and (II), respectively. By accounting for the influence of the correction factor on the decay cross-section, the luminosities computed for our Model (II) are in good agreement with the recently estimated terrestrial heat flow of 3 8 ∼ 4 9 TW from the Earth's surface. Our findings indicate that monopole-catalyzed proton decay may represent a mechanism capable of inhibiting the cooling process of the Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:02177323
DOI:10.1142/S0217732326500963