Thermonuclear Reaction
A fusion reaction sustained by the extremely high temperatures of the reacting material itself.
Unit
K
In depth
At sufficient temperature the nuclei have enough kinetic energy for a small fraction to tunnel through the Coulomb barrier and fuse. Quantum tunnelling is essential: without it stellar cores would be far too cool for fusion to proceed at the observed rate.
Examples in the real world
The proton–proton chain powering the Sun at about 15 million kelvin.