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Equation 4 · Part 1 · The Resonance That Selected Carbon, and the Universes That Couldn't

Symbol Gamma

Γ\Gamma
Γ\Gamma

What this part means

Gamma is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

Its job in the formula

Gamma is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

The passage around this formula

where Γα\Gamma_\alpha and Γrad\Gamma_{\mathrm{rad}} are the alpha-decay and radiative partial widths, Γ\Gamma their sum, and ERE_R the resonance energy above the reacting threshold [ 5 ] . The exponential term is why a shift in the resonance’s position has outsized leverage on the reaction rate, and why the disputed radiative-width measurements of the previous section and the sensitivity calculations here are, in the end, two views of the same quantity’s grip on the same exponent.

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A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.

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Sources cited in the surrounding passage

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