The origin of supernovae

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The observations and theory of stellar evolution and supernova explosions give an increasingly refined picture of the origin of supernovae. Stars evolving singly or in wide binaries probably leave stable white dwarf remnants if their mass is <or approximately=8 M(.). Stars in the mass range approximately 8-15 M(.) are probably responsible for classical supernovae of Type II (SN II). These stars are likely to undergo core collapse induced by electron capture or photodisintegration. Thermonuclear processes cannot reverse the collapse so formation of a neutron star will follow. The fate of stars with mass in the range approximately 15-70 M(.) is uncertain. These stars develop an iron core which undergoes dynamical collapse to make a neutron star. There are probably too few such stars to contribute appreciably to the net rate of SN II. Stars of even higher mass M>or approximately=70 M(.) are rare, but may have played an important role in galactic nucleosynthesis by exploding via the pair formation process. Recent calculations have given support to the notion that radioactive decay of 56Ni to 56Co to 56Fe determines the exponential light curve and the late-time spectra of Type I supernovae (SN I). The ejection of 0.5-1 M(.) of Ni seems to be required to account for the observations.