We investigate the effects of thermonuclear reaction rate uncertainties on nova nucleosynthesis .
One–zone nucleosynthesis calculations have been performed by adopting temperature–density–time profiles of the hottest hydrogen–burning zone ( i.e. , the region in which most of the nucleosynthesis takes place ) .
We obtain our profiles from 7 different , recently published , hydrodynamic nova simulations covering peak temperatures in the range from T _ { peak } =0.145–0.418 GK .
For each of these profiles , we individually varied the rates of 175 reactions within their associated errors and analyzed the resulting abundance changes of 142 isotopes in the mass range below A=40 .
In total , we performed \approx 7350 nuclear reaction network calculations .
We use the most recent thermonuclear reaction rate evaluations for the mass ranges A=1–20 and A=20–40 .
For the theoretical astrophysicist , our results indicate the extent to which nova nucleosynthesis calculations depend on presently uncertain nuclear physics input , while for the experimental nuclear physicist our results represent at least a qualitative guide for future measurements at stable and radioactive ion beam facilities .
We find that present reaction rate estimates are reliable for predictions of Li , Be , C and N abundances in nova nucleosynthesis .
However , rate uncertainties of several reactions have to be reduced significantly in order to predict more reliable O , F , Ne , Na , Mg , Al , Si , S , Cl and Ar abundances .
Results are presented in tabular form for each adopted nova simulation .