Difficulties in Probing Nuclear Physics: A Study of $^{44}$Ti and $^{56}$Ni

TL;DR

This paper discusses the complexities involved in probing nuclear physics through supernova nucleosynthesis, emphasizing the need to understand detailed processes affecting yields of isotopes like $^{44}$Ti and $^{56}$Ni.

Contribution

It highlights the challenges in accurately modeling nuclear rates in supernovae and outlines how the NuGrid collaboration aims to address these complexities.

Findings

Complex processes significantly influence nucleosynthetic yields.

Simplifications in models reduce uncertainties but overlook key physics.

NuGrid's approach aims to incorporate full process details.

Abstract

The nucleosynthetic yield from a supernova explosion depends upon a variety of effects: progenitor evolution, explosion process, details of the nuclear network, and nuclear rates. Especially in studies of integrated stellar yields, simplifications reduce these uncertainties. But nature is much more complex, and to actually study nuclear rates, we will have to understand the full, complex set of processes involved in nucleosynthesis. Here we discuss a few of these complexities and detail how the NuGrid collaboration will address them.