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Title: Magnetohydrodynamical Effects on Nuclear Deflagration Fronts in Type Ia Supernovae

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Florida A & M Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States); Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
  2. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
  3. Florida A & M Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
  4. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)

This article introduces a report of the effects of magnetic fields on non-distributed nuclear burning fronts as a possible solution to a fundamental problem for the thermonuclear explosion of a Chandrasekhar mass ($${M}_{\mathrm{Ch}}$$) white dwarf (WD), the currently favored scenario for the majority of Type Ia SNe. All existing 3D hydrodynamical simulations predict strong global mixing of the burning products due to Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instabilities, which contradicts observations. As a first step toward studying the flame physics, we present a set of computational magnet-hydrodynamic models in rectangular flux tubes, resembling a small inner region of a WD. We consider initial magnetic fields up to $${10}^{12}\,{\rm{G}}$$ of various orientations. We find an increasing suppression of RT instabilities starting at about $${10}^{9}\,{\rm{G}}$$. The front speed tends to decrease with increasing magnitude up to about $${10}^{11}\,{\rm{G}}$$. For even higher fields new small-scale, finger-like structures develop, which increase the burning speed by a factor of 3 to 4 above the field-free RT-dominated regime. We imply that the new instability may provide sufficiently accelerated energy production during the distributed burning regime to go over the Chapman–Jougey limit and trigger a detonation. Furthermore, we discuss the possible origins of high magnetic fields during the final stage of the progenitor evolution or the explosion.

Research Organization:
Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, FL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002630
OSTI ID:
1542023
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 858, Issue 1; ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Astrophysical magnetic fields and nonlinear dynamo theory text January 2004
Signature of Electron Capture in Iron-Rich Ejecta of SN 2003du text January 2004
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Constraints on the Physics of Type Ia Supernovae from the X-Ray Spectrum of the Tycho Supernova Remnant text January 2005
The type Ia supernova SNLS-03D3bb from a super-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf star text January 2006
Detonating Failed Deflagration Model of Thermonuclear Supernovae I. Explosion Dynamics text January 2006
Statistical Properties of X-ray Clusters: Analytic and Numerical Comparisons text January 1997
Positron Escape from Type Ia Supernovae text January 1999
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