  Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thought to be thermonuclear explosion of
white dwarfs (WDs). Their progenitors are not well understood. One popular
scenario is the double-degenerate (DD) scenario, which attributes SNe Ia to
WD-WD binary mergers. The fates of the WD mergers depend on the rate of
$^{12}$C+$^{12}$C reaction. Recently, the $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C cross sections have
been measured and the analysis of the data using the Trojan Horse Method
suggested that the astrophysical reaction rate is larger than conventional
rates at astrophysical temperatures due to possible resonances. The resonance
contribution results in a decrease of the carbon burning ignition temperature.
Therefore accretion induced collapse occurs more easily and increases the
birthrate of Galactic neutron stars with the contribution of the DD scenario to
the SNe Ia rate becoming even smaller.
