Variation of fundamental constants and the triple-alpha reaction in Population III stars and BBN

International audienceThe effect of variations of the fundamental constants on the thermonuclear rate of the triple alpha reaction, 4He(αα, γ)12C, that bridges the gap between 4He and 12C is investigated. We have followed the evolution of 15 and 60 Mbigodot zero metallicity stellar models, up to the end of core helium burning. The calculated oxygen and carbon abundances resulting from helium burning can then be used to constrain the variation of the fundamental constants. To investigate the effect of an enhanced triple alpha reaction rate in Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis, we first evaluated Standard Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis CNO production with a network of more than 400 reactions using the TALYS code to calculate missing rates