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Over the last three years, the rates of all the main nuclear reactions involving the destruction and production of 26Al in stars (26Al(n, p)26Mg, 26Al(n, α)23Na, 26Al(p, γ)27Si and 25Mg(p, γ)26Al) have been re-evaluated thanks to new high-precision experimental measurements of their crosssections at energies of astrophysical interest, considerably reducing the uncertainties in the nuclear physics affecting their nucleosynthesis. We computed the nucleosynthetic yields ejected by the explosion of a high-mass star (20 M⊙, Z = 0.0134) using the FRANEC stellar code, considering two explosion energies, 1.2 × 1051 erg and 3 × 1051 erg. We quantify the change in the ejected amount of 26Al and other key species that is predicted when the new rate selection is adopted instead of the reaction rates from the STARLIB nuclear library. Additionally, the ratio of our ejected yields of 26Al to those of 14 other short-lived radionuclides (36Cl, 41Ca, 53Mn, 60Fe, 92Nb, 97Tc, 98Tc, 107Pd, 126Sn, 129I, 36Cs, 146Sm, 182Hf, 205Pb) are compared to early solar system isotopic ratios, inferred from meteorite measurements. The total ejected 26Al yields vary by a factor of ~3 when adopting the new rates or the STARLIB rates. Additionally, the new nuclear reaction rates also impact the predicted abundances of short-lived radionuclides in the early solar system relative to 26Al. However, it is not possible to reproduce all the short-lived radionuclide isotopic ratios with our massive star model alone, unless a second stellar source could be invoked, which must have been active in polluting the pristine solar nebula at a similar time of a core-collapse supernova. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in multi-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae have considerably improved our understanding of this complex phenomenon. In addition to that, one-dimensional (1D) studies have been employed to study the explosion mechanism and its causal connection to the pre-collapse structure of the star, as well as to explore the vast parameter space of supernovae. Nonetheless, many uncertainties still affect the late stages of the evolution of massive stars, their collapse, and the subsequent shock propagation. In this review, we will briefly summarize the state-of-the-art of both 1D and 3D simulations and how they can be employed to study the evolution of massive stars, supernova explosions, and shock propagation, focusing on the uncertainties that affect each of these phases. Finally, we will illustrate the typical nucleosynthesis products that emerge from the explosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]