| Abstract: |
Through the explosive deaths of stars, the densest objects in the universe are born, and a large fraction of the chemical elements synthesised. The progenitor stars of supernovae are, however, in many aspects still poorly understood. In particular, the fate of light massive stars that sit on a knife edge between white dwarf and neutron star production is arguably the poorest understood of all. Our research has shown that refined nuclear physics and multidimensional hydrodynamic simulations are of critical importance for studying the evolution of supernova progenitors. Furthermore, our most recent simulations suggest that light massive stars stars may not produce white dwarfs or neutron stars at all. |
