THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL EVOLUTION TO CORE COLLAPSE OF A MASSIVE STAR

Journal Article · Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/808/1/L21· OSTI ID:22518924

Couch, Sean M. ^[1]; Chatzopoulos, Emmanouil ^[2]; Arnett, W. David ^[3]

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1. TAPIR, Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
2. Flash Center for Computational Science, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)
3. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

We present the first three-dimensional (3D) simulation of the final minutes of iron core growth in a massive star, up to and including the point of core gravitational instability and collapse. We capture the development of strong convection driven by violent Si burning in the shell surrounding the iron core. This convective burning builds the iron core to its critical mass and collapse ensues, driven by electron capture and photodisintegration. The non-spherical structure and motion generated by 3D convection is substantial at the point of collapse, with convective speeds of several hundreds of km s{sup −1}. We examine the impact of such physically realistic 3D initial conditions on the core-collapse supernova mechanism using 3D simulations including multispecies neutrino leakage and find that the enhanced post-shock turbulence resulting from 3D progenitor structure aids successful explosions. We conclude that non-spherical progenitor structure should not be ignored, and should have a significant and favorable impact on the likelihood for neutrino-driven explosions. In order to make simulating the 3D collapse of an iron core feasible, we were forced to make approximations to the nuclear network making this effort only a first step toward accurate, self-consistent 3D stellar evolution models of the end states of massive stars.

• OSTI ID: 22518924
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 808, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONVECTION
COSMIC NEUTRINOS
CRITICAL MASS
ELECTRON CAPTURE
GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE
GRAVITATIONAL INSTABILITY
HYDRODYNAMICS
IRON
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
PHOTONUCLEAR REACTIONS
SILICON
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
STAR EVOLUTION
SUPERNOVAE
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TURBULENCE