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Title: The γ -process nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernovae: II. Effect of the explosive recipe

Context.Theγprocess in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) can produce a number of neutron-deficient stable isotopes heavier than iron (pnuclei). However, current model predictions do not fully reproduce solar abundances, especially for92, 94Mo and96, 98Ru.

Aims.We investigate the impact of different explosion energies and parametrizations on the nucleosynthesis ofpnuclei, by studying stellar models with different initial masses and different CCSN explosions.

Methods.We compared thep-nucleus yields obtained using a semi-analytical method to simulate the supernova to those obtained using hydrodynamic models. We explored the effect of varying the explosion parameters on thep-nucleus production in two sets of CCSN models with initial masses of 15, 20, and 25Mat solar metallicity. We calculated a new set of 24 CCSN models (eight for each stellar progenitor mass) and compared our results with another recently published set of 80 CCSN models that includes a wide range of explosion parameters: explosion energy or initial shock velocity, energy injection time, and mass location of the injection.

Results.We find that the totalp-nucleus yields are only marginally affected by the CCSN explosion prescriptions if theγ-process production is already efficient in the stellar progenitors due to a C−O shell merger. In most CCSN explosions from progenitors without a C−O shell merger, theγ-process yields increase with the explosion energy by up to an order of magnitude, depending on the progenitor structure and the CCSN prescriptions. The general trend of thep-nucleus production with the explosion energy is more complicated if we look at the production of singlepnuclei. The lightp-nuclei tend to be the most enhanced with increasing explosion energy. In particular, for the CCSN models where theα-rich freeze-out component is ejected, the yields of the lightestpnuclei (including92, 94Mo and96Ru) increase by up to three orders of magnitude.

Conclusions.We provide the first extensive study using different sets of massive stars of the impact of varying CCSN explosion prescriptions on the production ofpnuclei. Unlike previous expectations and recent results in the literature, we find that the average production ofpnuclei tends to increase with the explosion energy. We also confirm that the pre-explosion production ofpnuclei in C−O shell mergers is a robust result, independent of the subsequent explosive nucleosynthesis. More generally, a realistic range of variations in the evolution of stellar progenitors and in the CCSN explosions might boost the CCSN contribution to the galactic chemical evolution ofpnuclei.

 
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Award ID(s):
1927130
PAR ID:
10543564
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume:
686
ISSN:
0004-6361
Page Range / eLocation ID:
L8
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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