Magnetorotational Mechanism of the Explosion of Core-Collapse Supernovae

Journal Article · Thu Mar 15 04:00:00 EDT 2018 · Physics of Atomic Nuclei

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063778818020035· OSTI ID:22761737

The idea of the magnetorotational explosion mechanism is that the energy of rotation of the neutron star formed in the course of a collapse is transformed into the energy of an expanding shock wave by means of a magnetic field. In the two-dimensional case, the time of this transformation depends weakly on the initial strength of the poloidal magnetic field because of the development of a magnetorotational instability. Differential rotation leads to the twisting and growth of the toroidal magnetic-field component, which becomes much stronger than the poloidal component. As a result, the development of the instability and an exponential growth of all field components occur. The explosion topology depends on the structure of the magnetic field. In the case where the initial configuration of the magnetic field is close to a dipole configuration, the ejection of matter has a jet character, whereas, in the case of a quadrupole configuration, there arises an equatorial ejection. In either case, the energy release is sufficient for explaining the observed average energy of supernova explosion. Neutrinos are emitted as the collapse and the formation of a rapidly rotating neutron star proceeds. In addition, neutrino radiation arises in the process of magnetorotational explosion owing to additional rotational-energy losses. If the mass of a newborn neutron star exceeds the mass limit for a nonrotating neutron star, then subsequent gradual energy losses may later lead to the formation of a black hole. In that case, the energy carried away by a repeated flash of neutrino radiation increases substantially. In order to explain an interval of 4.5 hours between the two observed neutrino signals from SN 1987A, it is necessary to assume a weakening of the magnetorotional instability and a small initial magnetic field (10{sup 9}−10{sup 10} G) in the newly formed rotating neutron star. The existence of a black hole in the SN 1987A remnant could explain the absence of any visible pointlike source at the center of the explosion.

• OSTI ID: 22761737
• Journal Information: Physics of Atomic Nuclei, Journal Name: Physics of Atomic Nuclei Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 81; ISSN 1063-7788; ISSN PANUEO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
CONFIGURATION
DIPOLES
ENERGY LOSSES
EXPLOSIONS
INSTABILITY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MASS
NEUTRINOS
NEUTRON STARS
QUADRUPOLES
ROTATION
SHOCK WAVES
SIGNALS
SUPERNOVAE
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS