skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A review of direct numerical simulations of astrophysical detonations and their implications

Abstract

Multi-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) of astrophysical detonations in degenerate matter have revealed that the nuclear burning is typically characterized by cellular structure caused by transverse instabilities in the detonation front. Type Ia supernova modelers often use one- dimensional DNS of detonations as inputs or constraints for their whole star simulations. While these one-dimensional studies are useful tools, the true nature of the detonation is multi-dimensional. The multi-dimensional structure of the burning influences the speed, stability, and the composition of the detonation and its burning products, and therefore, could have an impact on the spectra of Type Ia supernovae. Considerable effort has been expended modeling Type Ia supernovae at densities above 1x107 g∙cm-3 where the complexities of turbulent burning dominate the flame propagation. However, most full star models turn the nuclear burning schemes off when the density falls below 1x107 g∙cm-3 and distributed burning begins. The deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) is believed to occur at just these densities and consequently they are the densities important for studying the properties of the subsequent detonation. In conclusion, this work reviews the status of DNS studies of detonations and their possible implications for Type Ia supernova models. It will cover the developmentmore » of Detonation theory from the first simple Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) detonation models to the current models based on the time-dependent, compressible, reactive flow Euler equations of fluid dynamics.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Center for Computational Sciences
  2. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Department of Physics and Astronomy
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Center for Computational Sciences; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Department of Physics and Astronomy
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
OSTI Identifier:
1159400
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Frontiers of Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 8; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2095-0462
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; supernova; detonations; direct numerical simulations

Citation Formats

Parete-Koon, Suzanne T., Smith, Christopher R., Papatheodore, Thomas L., and Bronson Messer, O. E. A review of direct numerical simulations of astrophysical detonations and their implications. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1007/s11467-013-0279-y.
Parete-Koon, Suzanne T., Smith, Christopher R., Papatheodore, Thomas L., & Bronson Messer, O. E. A review of direct numerical simulations of astrophysical detonations and their implications. United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-013-0279-y
Parete-Koon, Suzanne T., Smith, Christopher R., Papatheodore, Thomas L., and Bronson Messer, O. E. 2013. "A review of direct numerical simulations of astrophysical detonations and their implications". United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-013-0279-y. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1159400.
@article{osti_1159400,
title = {A review of direct numerical simulations of astrophysical detonations and their implications},
author = {Parete-Koon, Suzanne T. and Smith, Christopher R. and Papatheodore, Thomas L. and Bronson Messer, O. E.},
abstractNote = {Multi-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) of astrophysical detonations in degenerate matter have revealed that the nuclear burning is typically characterized by cellular structure caused by transverse instabilities in the detonation front. Type Ia supernova modelers often use one- dimensional DNS of detonations as inputs or constraints for their whole star simulations. While these one-dimensional studies are useful tools, the true nature of the detonation is multi-dimensional. The multi-dimensional structure of the burning influences the speed, stability, and the composition of the detonation and its burning products, and therefore, could have an impact on the spectra of Type Ia supernovae. Considerable effort has been expended modeling Type Ia supernovae at densities above 1x107 g∙cm-3 where the complexities of turbulent burning dominate the flame propagation. However, most full star models turn the nuclear burning schemes off when the density falls below 1x107 g∙cm-3 and distributed burning begins. The deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) is believed to occur at just these densities and consequently they are the densities important for studying the properties of the subsequent detonation. In conclusion, this work reviews the status of DNS studies of detonations and their possible implications for Type Ia supernova models. It will cover the development of Detonation theory from the first simple Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) detonation models to the current models based on the time-dependent, compressible, reactive flow Euler equations of fluid dynamics.},
doi = {10.1007/s11467-013-0279-y},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1159400}, journal = {Frontiers of Physics},
issn = {2095-0462},
number = 2,
volume = 8,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Apr 11 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Thu Apr 11 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 3 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

FIG. 1. FIG. 1.: Plot of the Hugoniot Curve and Rayleigh Line showing a stable detonation.

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Optical Spectra of Supernovae
journal, September 1997


FLASH: An Adaptive Mesh Hydrodynamics Code for Modeling Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes
journal, November 2000


Difference schemes for hyperbolic equations with high order of accuracy
journal, August 1964


The structure of detonation waves in supernovae
journal, August 1989


Stability of Detonations in Supernovae
journal, December 1993


Multilevel Structure of Cellular Detonations in Type Ia Supernovae
journal, February 1999


State of Detonation Stability Theory and Its Application to Propulsion
journal, November 2006


Spontaneous Transition of Turbulent Flames to Detonations in Unconfined Media
journal, July 2011


The conductive propagation of nuclear flames. I - Degenerate C + O and O + NE + MG white dwarfs
journal, September 1992


The Multidimensional Structure of Detonations in Type Ia Supernovae
journal, November 1996


An Inexpensive Nuclear Energy Generation Network for Stellar Hydrodynamics
journal, July 2000


VI. On the rate of explosion in gases
journal, January 1899


The Accuracy, Consistency, and Speed of an Electron‐Positron Equation of State Based on Table Interpolation of the Helmholtz Free Energy
journal, February 2000


INCOMPLETE CARBON-OXYGEN DETONATION IN TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE
journal, March 2011


The Quasi‐Equilibrium–reduced α‐Network
journal, August 1998


An Eulerian differencing method for unsteady compressible flow problems
journal, August 1966


C+O detonations in thermonuclear supernovae: interaction with previously burned material
journal, April 2006


EVALUATING SYSTEMATIC DEPENDENCIES OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE: THE INFLUENCE OF PROGENITOR 22 Ne CONTENT ON DYNAMICS
journal, August 2009


The structure of steady detonation waves in Type Ia supernovae: pathological detonations in C—O cores
journal, December 1999


Three‐dimensional Numerical Simulations of Rayleigh‐Taylor Unstable Flames in Type Ia Supernovae
journal, October 2005


The QSE‐Reduced Nuclear Reaction Network for Silicon Burning
journal, September 2007


Dynamic Parameters of Gaseous Detonations
journal, January 1984


The Piecewise Parabolic Method (PPM) for gas-dynamical simulations
journal, April 1984


STUDY OF THE DETONATION PHASE IN THE GRAVITATIONALLY CONFINED DETONATION MODEL OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE
journal, March 2009


EVALUATING SYSTEMATIC DEPENDENCIES OF TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE: THE INFLUENCE OF DEFLAGRATION TO DETONATION DENSITY
journal, August 2010


Capturing the Fire: Flame Energetics and Neutronization for Type Ia Supernova Simulations
journal, February 2007


The diversity of type Ia supernovae from broken symmetries
journal, August 2009


The Physics of Supernova Explosions
journal, September 1986


Systems of conservation laws
journal, May 1960


Propagation of Turbulent Flames in Supernovae
journal, August 1995


A possible model of supernovae: Detonation of12C
journal, October 1969


Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.