APEC Seminar (Astronomy - Particle Physics - Experimental Physics - Cosmology)

Speaker: Samuel Jones (HITS, Heidelberg)
Title: Supernovae and their progenitor systems
Date (JST): Thu, Nov 10, 2016, 13:30 - 14:30
Place: Seminar Room A
Related File: 1736.pdf
Abstract: The progenitor stars of supernovae are in many aspects still poorly understood. Stellar evolution codes are an invaluable tool with which to study the long term evolution of supernova progenitors, however they necessarily rely on the assumption of spherical symmetry (1D) and approximations for dynamical mixing processes (such as mixing length theory). Although such assumptions and approximations limit the predictive power of stellar evolution codes, they can be supplemented and informed by multidimensional hydrodynamic simulations.

I will present high resolution simulations of convective oxygen shell burning in a massive star and show that convective transport of material and the erosion of the stable layer above the convective boundary by entrainment processes can be relatively well approximated in 1D stellar evolution codes. I will also discuss the uncertainties surrounding electron-capture supernovae - which are thought to form the lightest neutron stars - and how progress can be made through hydrodynamic simulations of nuclear flames.