Who of the following recognized that large quantity of energy is released as a result of the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form deuterium ?

Hans Bethe is credited with the discovery of the nuclear processes that power stars, specifically identifying how hydrogen nuclei fuse to form helium, releasing immense energy [t3]. In the late 1930s, Bethe described the proton-proton chain reaction, which begins with the fusion of two protons (hydrogen nuclei) to form a deuterium nucleus, a process that is exoergic and releases a significant amount of energy [t2][t5][t6]. This work on stellar nucleosynthesis, which also included the discovery of the CNO cycle, earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 [t1][t3]. While Arthur Eddington had earlier suggested hydrogen fusion as a stellar energy source in 1920, it was Bethe who provided the detailed theoretical foundation for the specific reactions involving deuterium formation and subsequent helium synthesis [t3][t7]. Other scientists like Enrico Fermi and Werner Heisenberg were primarily known for their work in nuclear fission and quantum mechanics, respectively.

Sources

1. [1] https://www.britannica.com/science/nuclear-fusion/Fusion-reactions-in-stars