Chemical Yields from Supernovae and Hypernovae

TL;DR

This review discusses the final evolutionary stages of stars across different mass ranges, their supernova mechanisms, and the resulting chemical element yields, highlighting their roles in cosmic chemical enrichment.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of stellar evolution, supernova types, and nucleosynthesis yields as a function of progenitor mass, including new insights into less common supernova subclasses.

Findings

8-10 Ms stars produce Zn and light p-nuclei, little alpha-elements.

Fe-core collapse in 10-90 Ms stars influences metal-poor star abundances.

Pair-instability supernovae occur in 140-300 Ms stars with low mass loss.

Abstract

We review the final stages of stellar evolution, supernova properties, and chemical yields as a function of the progenitor's mass M. (1) 8 - 10 Ms stars are super-AGB stars when the O+Ne+Mg core collapses due to electron capture. These AGB-supernovae may constitute an SN 2008S-like sub-class of Type IIn supernovae. These stars produce little alpha-elements and Fe-peak elements, but are important sources of Zn and light p-nuclei. (2) 10 - 90 Ms stars undergo Fe-core collapse. Nucleosynthesis in aspherical explosions is important, as it can well reproduce the abundance patterns observed in extremely metal-poor stars. (3) 90 - 140 Ms stars undergo pulsational nuclear instabilities at various nuclear burning stages, including O and Si-burning. (4) 140 - 300 Ms stars become pair-instability supernovae, if the mass loss is small enough. (5) Stars more massive than 300 Ms undergo core-collapse to form intermediate mass black holes.