THE PROTON-PROTON REACTION, SOLAR NEUTRINOS, AND A RELATIVISTIC FIELDTHEORETIC MODEL OF THE DEUTERON

In a series of recent papers, Ivanov et al. and Oberhummer et al. have calculated the rate for the p + p --> d + e(+) + v(e) reaction with a zero-range four-fermion effective interaction and find a result 2.9 t imes higher than the standard value calculated from non-relativistic p otential theory. Their procedure is shown to give a wrong answer becau se their assumed interaction disagrees with low-energy pp scattering d ata. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.