Nucleosynthesis in Chandrasekhar Mass Models for Type Ia Supernovae and Constraints on Progenitor Systems and Burning‐Front Propagation

The major uncertainties involved in the Chandrasekhar mass models for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are related to the companion star of their accreting white dwarf progenitor (which determines the accretion rate and consequently the carbon ignition density) and the flame speed after the carbon ignition. We calculate explosive nucleosynthesis in relatively slow deflagrations with a variety of deflagration speeds and ignition densities to put new constraints on the above key quantities. The abundance of the Fegroup, in particular of neutron-rich species like 48 Ca, 50 Ti, 54 Cr, 54,58 Fe, and 58 Ni, is highly sensitive to the electron captures taking place in the central layers. The yields obtained from such a slow central deflagration, and from a fast deflagration or delayed detonation in the outer layers, are combined and put to comparison with solar isotopic abundances. To avoid excessively large ratios of 54 Cr / 56 Fe and