Core-Collapse Supernova Neutrinos and Explosions!

Mon, November 09, 2015

Core-collapse supernovae are some of the optically-brightest astrophysical phenomena in the modern universe. This is impressive, especially given that most of the energy released is not photons, but in neutrinos. The ultimate source of energy for core-collapse supernovae is gravity. It is released when the iron core of a massive stars becomes gravitationally unstable to collapse and transitions to a neutron star. A small fraction the released energy goes into unbinding the rest of the star and spreading the products of stellar evolution throughout the galaxy, the rest is radiated in neutrinos. The crucial machinery of the core-collapse supernova central engine that works to transition the stellar implosion into an explosion are unclear, but are the subject of intense research. Since neutrinos carry away so much energy, their role cannot be ignored, in fact they likely play very important part in the development of the explosion.

In this talk, in addition to providing a background on supernovae,supernova simulations, and the neutrino signal we expect from the next galactic event, I will present new multidimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae performed with the FLASH hydrodynamics code and a recently implement neutrino transport scheme. I will emphasize the importance of including a general relativistic treatment of gravity.