Adam Burrows - “The Emerging Detailed Theory of Core Collapse Supernova Explosions”

Adam BurrowsPrinceton University
APPLIED PHYSICS/PHYSICS COLLOQUIUMTuesday, October 15, 2024
“The Emerging Detailed Theory of Core-Collapse Supernova Explosions” Using more than 20 state-of-the-art 3D core-collapse simulations to unprecedented late times (fully in 3D), I provide correlations between core-collapse supernova observables and progenitor core structures that emerge. This is the largest such collection of 3D supernova models ever generated and allows one to witness and derive testable patterns that might otherwise be obscured when studying one or a few models in isolation. From this panoramic perspective, we have discovered correlations between explosion energy, neutron star gravitational birth masses, the yields of the chemical elements, and pulsar kicks and theoretically important correlations with the compactness parameter of progenitor structure. We find a correlation between explosion energy and progenitor mantle binding energy, suggesting that such explosions are self-regulating. We also find a testable correlation between explosion energy and measures of explosion asymmetry, such as the ejecta mass dipole. However, while I contend the core-collapse supernova problem is now qualitatively solved, there is much yet to do in supernova theory before it can robustly and quantitatively explain the variety of supernova observations. I will close with suggested paths forward to achieve this ultimate goal.