Nucleosynthesis in Massive Stars with Improved Nuclear and Stellar Physics

We present the first calculations to follow the evolution of all stable nuclei and their radioactive progenitors in stellar models computed from the onset of central hydrogen burning through explosion as Type II supernovae. Calculations are performed for Pop I stars of 15, 19, 20, 21, and 25 M_sun using the most recently available experimental and theoretical nuclear data, revised opacity tables, neutrino losses, and weak interaction rates, and taking into account mass loss due to stellar winds. A novel ``adaptive'' reaction network is employed with a variable number of nuclei (adjusted each time step) ranging from about 700 on the main sequence to more than 2200 during the explosion. The network includes, at…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Award: W-7405
• AV
  Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung