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Context.In their final stages before undergoing a core-collapse supernova, massive stars may experience mergers between internal shells where carbon (C) and oxygen (O) are consumed as fuels for nuclear burning. This interaction, known as a C-O shell merger, can dramatically alter the internal structure of the star, leading to peculiar nucleosynthesis and potentially influencing the supernova explosion and the propagation of the subsequent supernova shock. Aims.Our understanding of the frequency and consequences of C-O shell mergers remains limited. This study aims to identify, for the first time, early diagnostics in the stellar structure that lead to C-O shell mergers in more advanced stages. We also assess their role in shaping the chemical abundances in the most metal poor stars of the Galaxy. Methods.We analyzed a set of 209 stellar evolution models available in the literature, with different initial progenitor masses and metallicities. We then compared the nucleosynthetic yields from a subset of these models with the abundances of odd-Zelements in metal-poor stars. Results.We find that the occurrence of C-O shell mergers in stellar models can be predicted with a good approximation based on the outcomes of the central He burning phase, specifically, from the CO core mass (M_CO) and the¹²C central mass fraction (X_C12): 90% of models with a C-O merger have X_C12<0.277 and M_CO<4.90 M_⊙, with average values of M_CO= 4.02 M_⊙and X_C12= 0.176. The quantities X_C12and M_COare indirectly affected from several stellar properties, including the initial stellar mass and metallicity. Additionally, we confirm that the Sc-rich and K-rich yields from models with C-O mergers would solve the long-standing underproduction of these elements in massive stars. Conclusions.Our results emphasize the crucial role of C-O shell mergers in enriching the interstellar medium, particularly in the production of odd-Zelements. This highlights the necessity of further investigations to refine their influence on presupernova stellar properties and their broader impact on Galactic chemical evolution. 

Context. The γ -process nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernovae is generally accepted as a feasible process for the synthesis of neutron-deficient isotopes beyond iron. However, crucial discrepancies between theory and observations still exist: the average yields of γ -process nucleosynthesis from massive stars are still insufficient to reproduce the solar distribution in galactic chemical evolution calculations, and the yields of the Mo and Ru isotopes are a factor of ten lower than the yields of the other γ -process nuclei. Aims. We investigate the γ -process in five sets of core-collapse supernova models published in the literature with initial masses of 15, 20, and 25 M ⊙ at solar metallicity. Methods. We compared the γ -process overproduction factors from the different models. To highlight the possible effect of nuclear physics input, we also considered 23 ratios of two isotopes close to each other in mass relative to their solar values. Further, we investigated the contribution of C–O shell mergers in the supernova progenitors as an additional site of the γ -process. Results. Our analysis shows that a large scatter among the different models exists for both the γ -process integrated yields and the isotopic ratios. We find only ten ratios that agree with their solar values, all the others differ by at least a factor of three from the solar values in all the considered sets of models. The γ -process within C–O shell mergers mostly influences the isotopic ratios that involve intermediate and heavy proton-rich isotopes with A  > 100. Conclusions. We conclude that there are large discrepancies both among the different data sets and between the model predictions and the solar abundance distribution. More calculations are needed; particularly updating the nuclear network, because the majority of the models considered in this work do not use the latest reaction rates for the γ -process nucleosynthesis. Moreover, the role of C–O shell mergers requires further investigation. 

We compare the core-collapse evolution of a pair of 15.8 M☉ stars with significantly different internal structures, a consequence of the bimodal variability exhibited by massive stars during their late evolutionary stages. The 15.78 and 15.79 M☉ progenitors have core masses (masses interior to an entropy of 4 kB baryon−1) of 1.47 and 1.78 M☉ and compactness parameters ξ1.75 of 0.302 and 0.604, respectively. The core-collapse simulations are carried out in 2D to nearly 3 s postbounce and show substantial differences in the times of shock revival and explosion energies. The 15.78 M☉ model begins exploding promptly at 120 ms postbounce when a strong density decrement at the Si– Si/O shell interface, not present in the 15.79 M☉ progenitor, encounters the stalled shock. The 15.79 M☉ model takes 100 ms longer to explode but ultimately produces a more powerful explosion. Both the larger mass accretion rate and the more massive core of the 15.79 M☉ model during the first 0.8 s postbounce time result in larger νe/n ̄e luminosities and RMS energies along with a flatter and higher-density heating region. The more-energetic explosion of the 15.79 M☉ model resulted in the ejection of twice as much 56Ni. Most of the ejecta in both models are moderately proton rich, though counterintuitively the highest electron fraction (Ye = 0.61) ejecta in either model are in the less-energetic 15.78 M☉ model, while the lowest electron fraction (Ye = 0.45) ejecta in either model are in the 15.79 M☉ model. 

Abstract The radioisotope 26 Al is a key observable for nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy and the environment of the early Solar System. To properly interpret the large variety of astronomical and meteoritic data, it is crucial to understand both the nuclear reactions involved in the production of 26 Al in the relevant stellar sites and the physics of such sites. These range from the winds of low- and intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch stars; to massive and very massive stars, both their Wolf–Rayet winds and their final core-collapse supernovae (CCSN); and the ejecta from novae, the explosions that occur on the surface of a white dwarf accreting material from a stellar companion. Several reactions affect the production of 26 Al in these astrophysical objects, including (but not limited to) 25 Mg( p , γ ) 26 Al, 26 Al( p , γ ) 27 Si, and 26 Al( n , p / α ). Extensive experimental effort has been spent during recent years to improve our understanding of such key reactions. Here we present a summary of the astrophysical motivation for the study of 26 Al, a review of its production in the different stellar sites, and a timely evaluation of the currently available nuclear data. We also provide recommendations for the nuclear input into stellar models and suggest relevant, future experimental work. 

Abstract The cosmic evolution of the chemical elements from the Big Bang to the present time is driven by nuclear fusion reactions inside stars and stellar explosions. A cycle of matter recurrently re-processes metal-enriched stellar ejecta into the next generation of stars. The study of cosmic nucleosynthesis and this matter cycle requires the understanding of the physics of nuclear reactions, of the conditions at which the nuclear reactions are activated inside the stars and stellar explosions, of the stellar ejection mechanisms through winds and explosions, and of the transport of the ejecta towards the next cycle, from hot plasma to cold, star-forming gas. Due to the long timescales of stellar evolution, and because of the infrequent occurrence of stellar explosions, observational studies are challenging, as they have biases in time and space as well as different sensitivities related to the various astronomical methods. Here, we describe in detail the astrophysical and nuclear-physical processes involved in creating two radioactive isotopes useful in such studies, $$^{26}\mathrm{Al}$$ and $$^{60}\mathrm{Fe}$$ . Due to their radioactive lifetime of the order of a million years, these isotopes are suitable to characterise simultaneously the processes of nuclear fusion reactions and of interstellar transport. We describe and discuss the nuclear reactions involved in the production and destruction of $$^{26}\mathrm{Al}$$ and $$^{60}\mathrm{Fe}$$ , the key characteristics of the stellar sites of their nucleosynthesis and their interstellar journey after ejection from the nucleosynthesis sites. This allows us to connect the theoretical astrophysical aspects to the variety of astronomical messengers presented here, from stardust and cosmic-ray composition measurements, through observation of $$\gamma$$ rays produced by radioactivity, to material deposited in deep-sea ocean crusts and to the inferred composition of the first solids that have formed in the Solar System. We show that considering measurements of the isotopic ratio of $$^{26}\mathrm{Al}$$ to $$^{60}\mathrm{Fe}$$ eliminate some of the unknowns when interpreting astronomical results, and discuss the lessons learned from these two isotopes on cosmic chemical evolution. This review paper has emerged from an ISSI-BJ Team project in 2017–2019, bringing together nuclear physicists, astronomers, and astrophysicists in this inter-disciplinary discussion.