Pre-supernova O-C shell mergers could produce more $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ than the explosion (2512.17705v1)

Abstract: The formation of $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ in massive stars is thought to occur during explosive nucleosynthesis, however recent studies have shown it can be produced during O-C shell mergers prior to core collapse. We investigate how mixing according to 3D macro physics derived from hydrodynamic simulations impacts the pre-supernova O-C shell merger nucleosynthesis and if it can dominate the explosive supernova production of $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ and other radioactive isotopes. We compare a range of observations and models of explosive $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ yields to pre-explosive multi-zone mixing-burning nucleosynthesis simulations of an O-C shell merger in a $15~\mathrm{M}_\odot$ stellar model with mixing conditions corresponding to different 3D hydro mixing scenarios. Radioactive species produced in the O shell have a spread in their pre-explosive yields predictions across different 3D mixing scenarios of 2.14 dex on average. $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ has the largest spread of 4.78 dex. The pre-explosive production of $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ can be larger than the production of all massive star models in the NuGrid data set where $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ is dominated by the explosive nucleosynthesis contribution, as well all other massive star and supernova models. We conclude that quantitative predictions of $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ and other radioactive species more broadly require an understanding of the 3D hydrodynamic mixing conditions present during the O-C shell merger.