K. Kifonidis

Improved models of stellar core collapse and still no explosions: what is missing?

Two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of stellar core collapse are presented which for the first time were performed by solving the Boltzmann equation for the neutrino transport including a state-of-the-art description of neutrino interactions. Stellar rotation is also taken into account. Although convection develops below the neutrinosphere and in the neutrino-heated region behind the supernova shock, the models do not explode. This suggests missing physics, possibly with respect to the nuclear equation of state and weak interactions in the subnuclear regime. However, it might also indicate a fundamental problem with the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism.

Multidimensional supernova simulations with approximative neutrino transport I. Neutron star kicks and the anisotropy of neutrino-driven explosions in two spatial dimensions

We study hydrodynamic instabilities during the first seconds of core-collapse supernovae by means of 2D simulations with approximative neutrino transport and boundary conditions that parameterize the effects of the contracting neutron star and allow us to obtain sufficiently strong neutrino heating and, hence, neutrino-driven explosions. Confirming more idealised studies, as well as supernova simulations with spectral transport, we find that random seed perturbations can grow by hydrodynamic instabilities to a globally asymmetric mass distribution in the region between the nascent neutron star and the accretion shock, leading to a dominance of dipole (

Pulsar Recoil by Large-Scale Anisotropies in Supernova Explosions

l=1

Multidimensional supernova simulations with approximative neutrino transport II. Convection and the advective-acoustic cycle in the supernova core

) and quadrupole (

Nucleosynthesis and Clump Formation in a Core-Collapse Supernova

l=2

The core helium flash revisited: II. Two and three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations

) modes in the explosion ejecta, provided the onset of the supernova explosion is sufficiently slower than the growth time scale of the low-mode instability. By gravitational and hydrodynamic forces, the anisotropic mass distribution causes an acceleration of the nascent neutron star, which lasts for several seconds and can propel the neutron star to velocities of more than 1000 km s -1 . Because the explosion anisotropies develop chaotically and change by small differences in the fluid flow, the magnitude of the kick varies stochastically. No systematic dependence of the average neutron star velocity on the explosion energy or the properties of the considered progenitors is found. Instead, the anisotropy of the mass ejection, and hence of the kick, seems to increase when the nascent neutron star contracts more quickly, and thus low-mode instabilities can grow more rapidly. Our more than 70 models separate into two groups, one with high and the other with low neutron star velocities and accelerations after one second of post-bounce evolution, depending on whether the

Supernova Explosions and Neutron Star Formation

l=1

Non-spherical core collapse supernovae - III. Evolution towards homology and dependence on the numerical resolution

mode is dominant in the ejecta or not. This leads to a bimodality of the distribution when the neutron star velocities are extrapolated to their terminal values. Establishing a link to the measured distribution of pulsar velocities, however, requires a much larger set of calculations and ultimately 3D modelling.

The core helium flash revisited - III. From Population I to Population III stars

Assuming that the neutrino luminosity from the neutron star core is sufficiently high to drive supernova explosions by the neutrino-heating mechanism, we show that low-mode (l=1,2) convection can develop from random seed perturbations behind the shock. A slow onset of the explosion is crucial, requiring the core luminosity to vary slowly with time, in contrast to the burstlike exponential decay assumed in previous work. Gravitational and hydrodynamic forces by the globally asymmetric supernova ejecta were found to accelerate the remnant neutron star on a time scale of more than a second to velocities above 500 km s(-1), in agreement with observed pulsar proper motions.

On multigrid solution of the implicit equations of hydrodynamics - Experiments for the compressible Euler equations in general coordinates

Performing two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations including a detailed treatment of the equation of state of the stellar plasma and for the neutrino transport and interactions, we investigate here the interplay between different kinds of non-radial hydrodynamic instabilities that can play a role during the postbounce accretion phase of collapsing stellar cores. The convective mode of instability, which is driven by the negative entropy gradients caused by neutrino heating or by variations in the shock strength in transient phases of shock expansion and contraction, can be identified clearly by the development of typical Rayleigh-Taylor mushrooms. However, in those cases where the gas in the postshock region is rapidly advected towards the gain radius, the growth of such a buoyancy instability can be suppressed. In this situation the shock and postshock flow can nevertheless develop non-radial asymmetry with an oscillatory growth in the amplitude. This phenomenon has been termed “standing (or spherical) accretion shock instability” (SASI). It is shown here that the SASI oscillations can trigger convective instability, and like the latter, they lead to an increase in the average shock radius and in the mass of the gain layer. Both hydrodynamic instabilities in combination stretch the advection time of matter accreted through the neutrino-heating layer and thus enhance the neutrino energy deposition in support of the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism. A rapidly contracting and more compact nascent neutron star turns out to be favorable for explosions, because the accretion luminosity and neutrino heating are greater and the growth rate of the SASI is higher. Moreover, we show that the oscillation period of the SASI observed in our simulations agrees with the one estimated for the advective-acoustic cycle (AAC), in which perturbations are carried by the accretion flow from the shock to the neutron star and pressure waves close an amplifying global feedback loop. A variety of other features in our models, as well as differences in their behavior, can also be understood on the basis of the AAC hypothesis. The interpretation of the SASI in our simulations as a purely acoustic phenomenon, however, appears difficult.