Explosive Nucleosynthesis: Prospects

Explosive nucleosynthesis is a combination of the nuclear physics of thermonuclear reactions, and the hydrodynamics of the plasma in which the reactions occur. It depends upon the initial conditions—the stellar evolution up to the explosive instability, and the nature of the explosion mechanism. Some key issues for explosive nucleosynthesis are the interaction of burning with hydrodynamics, the degree of microscopic mixing in convective zones, and the breaking of spherical symmetry by convection and rotation. Recent experiments on high intensity lasers provides new opportunities for laboratory testing of astrophysical hydrodynamic codes. Implications of supernovae 1987A and 1998bw (GRB980425?), and η Carina are discussed, as well as the formation of black holes or neutron stars.