Titanium and Iron in the Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant

Abstract

Abstract Mixing above the proto-neutron star is believed to play an important role in the supernova engine, and this mixing results in a supernova explosion with asymmetries. Elements produced in the innermost ejecta, e.g., 56Ni and 44Ti, provide a clean probe of this engine. The production of 44Ti is particularly sensitive to the exact production pathway and, by understanding the available pathways, we can use 44Ti to probe the supernova engine. Using thermodynamic trajectories from a three-dimensional supernova explosion model, we review the production of these elements and the structures expected to form under the “convective-engine” paradigm behind supernovae. We compare our results to recent X-ray and γ-ray observations of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant.