Progenitor Stars Calculated with Small Reaction Networks should not be Used as Initial Conditions for Core Collapse

Abstract

Core collapse initial conditions are a bottleneck in understanding the explosion mechanism(s) of massive stars. Stellar evolution codes struggle after carbon burning, and either stop or adopt numerical simplifications missing crucial physics. The use of small nuclear reaction networks (NRN) that account for energy production but bypass weak reactions is typical, but insufficient to study the dynamics of the collapse. We advise against the use of progenitors computed with small NRN in expensive multidimensional simulations of core collapse, bounce, (jet formation), and explosion.