Probing Nuclear Yields in the Gamma-Rays

Dr. Chris Fryer

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Gamma-rays in the MeV range provide a unique probe of the engines and progenitors behind cosmic explosions. Radioactive isotopes produced in a massive star during its life and death (a.k.a. supernova) are directly measured by the gamma-rays emitted during their decay. The direct nature of these observations make them clean diagnostics of the composition of the ejecta, and hence the nature of the progenitor and its explosive death. I will first review both the power of such direct probes with examples of what we have learned from current detections of isotopes such as 56Ni, 44Ti, 60Fe, 26Al. Next generation gamma-ray detectors open up a broad range of additional possibilities. This talk will focus on discussing this next generation science.