Reducing Uncertainties in the Production of the Gamma Emitting Nuclei 26Al, 44Ti, and 60Fe in Core Collapse Supernovae by Using Effective Helium Burning Rates

Sam Austin, Christopher West, Alexander Heger

Published 2017-04-05Version 1

We have used effective reaction rates (ERR) for the helium burning reactions to predict the yield of the gamma-emitting nuclei 26Al, 44Ti, and 60Fe in core col- lapse supernovae. The variations in the predicted yields for values of the reaction rates allowed by the ERR are much smaller than obtained previously, and smaller than other uncertainties. A "filter" for supernova nucleosynthesis yields based on pre-supernova structure was used to estimate the effect of failed supernovae on the initial mass function-averaged yields; this substantially reduced the yields of all these isotopes, but the predicted yield ratio 60Fe/26Al was little affected. The robustness of this ratio is promising for comparison with data, but it is larger than observed in nature; possible causes for this discrepancy are discussed.