Modeling of supernova gamma-ray emission by MCNP

Journal Article · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:426393

Van Riper, K A ^[1]; Burrows, A ^[2]

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1. White Rock Science, Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

Massive stars end their lives in supernova explosions. In the initial stages of the explosion, large amounts (measured in tenths of a solar mass, or M{sub {circle_dot}}) of radioactive elements are synthesized in the interior of the ejected matter. As the remnant of the star expands, the matter becomes increasingly transparent to gamma rays produced by the decay of {sup 56}Ni {r_arrow} {sup 56}Co {r_arrow} {sup 56}Fe, {sup 57}Co {r_arrow} {sup 57}Fe, and {sup 44}Ti {r_arrow} {sup 44}Sc {r_arrow} {sup 44}Ca. These gamma rays are detectable with current space and high-altitude instruments for near enough supernovae. By comparing the observations with MCNP models of the gamma-ray spectrum at different stages of the supernova, the authors can infer details of the presupernova star, the explosion mechanism, and the nucleosynthetic yields.

• OSTI ID: 426393
• Report Number(s): CONF-961103--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 75; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
SUPERNOVAE