The role of electron capture in core-collapse supernovae

Electron captures on nuclei play an important role in the dynamics of the collapsing core of a massive star that leads to a supernova explosion. After the discovery of the importance of this mode by Bethe, Brown, Applegate and Lattimer and the pioneering work to derive individual nuclear capture rates by Fuller and collaborators, more recent calculations of these capture rates were based on microscopic models which account for relevant degrees of freedom and agree well with the relevant experimental data. Incorporated into supernova simulations the modern capture rates lead to important changes in the collapse dynamics. In particular, it became clear that electron capture on nuclei dominates over the one on free protons during the entire collapse until neutrino trapping.