ON THE REQUIREMENTS FOR REALISTIC MODELING OF NEUTRINO TRANSPORT IN SIMULATIONS OF CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE

Journal Article · Thu Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/747/1/73· OSTI ID:22016280

Lentz, Eric J ^[1]; Mezzacappa, Anthony; Hix, W Raphael ^[2]; Messer, O E. Bronson ^[3]; Liebendoerfer, Matthias ^[4]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1200 (United States)
2. Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6354 (United States)
3. Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6164 (United States)
4. Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland)

We have conducted a series of numerical experiments with the spherically symmetric, general relativistic, neutrino radiation hydrodynamics code AGILE-BOLTZTRAN to examine the effects of several approximations used in multidimensional core-collapse supernova simulations. Our code permits us to examine the effects of these approximations quantitatively by removing, or substituting for, the pieces of supernova physics of interest. These approximations include: (1) using Newtonian versus general relativistic gravity, hydrodynamics, and transport; (2) using a reduced set of weak interactions, including the omission of non-isoenergetic neutrino scattering, versus the current state-of-the-art; and (3) omitting the velocity-dependent terms, or observer corrections, from the neutrino Boltzmann kinetic equation. We demonstrate that each of these changes has noticeable effects on the outcomes of our simulations. Of these, we find that the omission of observer corrections is particularly detrimental to the potential for neutrino-driven explosions and exhibits a failure to conserve lepton number. Finally, we discuss the impact of these results on our understanding of current, and the requirements for future, multidimensional models.

• OSTI ID: 22016280
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 747; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
APPROXIMATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COSMIC NEUTRINOS
EXPLOSIONS
GRAVITATION
HYDRODYNAMICS
KINETIC EQUATIONS
LEPTON NUMBER
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SUPERNOVAE