Electron capture and shock formation in core-collapse supernovae Original Research Article

New supernova progenitor models incorporating modern electron capture and beta decay rates have recently become available. One of the more notable differences in these new models is an increase in the electron fraction throughout the iron core when compared to earlier models. We describe fully self-consistent radiation hydrodynamic simulations of core collapse and shock formation using both sets of models, including both a standard set of electron capture rates for supernova simulations and a parameterized scheme meant to approximate the modern updates.