Propagating Uncertainties from Nuclear Physics to Gamma-rays in Core Collapse Supernovae
Chris L Fryer, Hendrik Schatz, Samuel Jones, Atul Kedia, Richard Longland, Fabio Magistrelli, Gerard Navo, Joshua Issa, Patrick A Young, Alison M. Laird, Jeffery C. Blackmon, Almudena Arcones, Samuel Cupp, Carla Frohlich, Falk Herwig, Aimee Hungerford, Chen-Qi Li, G. C. McLaughlin, Bradley S. Meyer, Matthew R. Mumpower, Yong-Zhong Qian
TL;DR
This work evaluates how uncertainties in both astrophysical modeling and nuclear reaction physics propagate into nucleosynthetic yields and their gamma-ray signatures in core-collapse supernovae. It highlights major astrophysical sources of uncertainty—progenitor structure, explosive trajectories, and electron fraction evolution—and couples them with nuclear-physics uncertainties in reaction rates and networks, illustrating their combined impact on observable isotopes such as $^{56}$Ni, $^{44}$Ti, and shell-burning products. Through sensitivity studies and Monte Carlo propagation, the paper demonstrates that nuclear-rate uncertainties can be as large as the astrophysical ones for key gamma-ray emitters, underscoring a need for coordinated experimental measurements and theory to constrain the relevant reactions (e.g., $^{23}$Na$(\alpha,p)^{26}$Mg and $^{44}$Ti$(\alpha,p)^{47}$V). It also discusses multi-D explosion physics, OC-shell mergers, and continuous engine activity as crucial sources of trajectory variation that shape yields, and argues that upcoming gamma-ray detectors will provide direct, transformative constraints on the supernova engine and progenitor structure. Overall, the study maps a path to leverage gamma-ray observations to probe dense matter and neutrino physics in CCSNe by systematically reducing the dominant uncertainties.
Abstract
Nuclear yields are powerful probes of supernova explosions, their engines and their progenitors. In addition, as we improve our understanding of these explosions, we can use nuclear yields to probe dense matter and neutrino physics, both of which play a critical role in the central supernova engine. Especially with upcoming gamma-ray detectors that can directly detect radioactive isotopes out to increasing distances from gamma-rays emitted during their decay, nuclear yields have the potential to provide some of the most direct probes of supernova engines and stellar burning. To utilize these probes, we must understand and limit the uncertainties in their production. Uncertainties in the nuclear physics can be minimized by combining both laboratory experiments and nuclear theory. Similarly, astrophysical uncertainties caused by simplified explosion trajectories can be minimized by higher-fidelity stellar-evolution and supernova-engine models. This paper reviews the physics and astrophysics uncertainties in modeling nucleosynthetic yields, identifying the key areas of study needed to maximize the potential of supernova yields as probes of astrophysical transients and dense-matter physics.