Enhancement of Nucleosynthesis Reaction Rates Due to Nonthermalized Fast Neutrons

It is usually assumed in stellar nucleosynthesis calculations that neutrons art completely thcrmalizcd. Hence, if the cross section of a neutron-induced reaction has a threshold, or it is suppressed by the Coulomb barrier in the exit channel, the reaction rate is quite low. However, the contribution front the decelerating fast neutrons has been neglected previously. We show that, though ihe fraction of such neutrons is small, they enhance a number of nucleosynthesis reaction rates by many orders of magnitude; especially at low temperatures. Subject headings; nucleosynthesis