The Solar Proton Burning Process Revisited in Chiral Perturbation Theory

The proton burning process p + p -> d + e(+) + \nu(e), important for thestellar evolution of main-sequence stars of mass equal to or less than that ofthe Sun, is computed in effective field theory using chiral perturbationexpansion to the next-to-next-to leading chiral order. This represents amodel-independent calculation consistent with low-energy effective theory ofQCD comparable in accuracy to the radiative np capture at thermal energypreviously calculated by first using very accurate two-nucleon wavefunctionsbacked up by an effective field theory technique with a finite cut-off. Theresult obtained thereby is found to support within theoretical uncertaintiesthe previous calculation of the same process by Bahcall and his co-workers.Comment: 30 pages, 2 eps files, aaspp4.sty needed, slightly modified, to be published in Ap.