Work

An Integral Condition for Core-collapse Supernova Explosions

Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT We derive an integral condition for core-collapse supernova (CCSN) explosions and use it to construct a new diagnostic of explodability. The fundamental challenge in CCSN theory is to explain how a stalled accretion shock revives to explode a star. In this manuscript, we assume that the shock revival is initiated by the delayed-neutrino mechanism and derive an integral condition for spherically symmetric shock expansion, v s > 0. One of the most useful one-dimensional explosion conditions is the neutrino luminosity and mass-accretion rate ( L ν –  ˙ ) critical curve. Below this curve, steady-state stalled solutions exist, but above this curve, there are no stalled solutions. Burrows & Goshy suggested that the solutions above this curve are dynamic and explosive. In this manuscript, we take one step closer to proving this supposition; we show that all steady solutions above this curve have v s > 0. Assuming that these steady v s > 0 solutions correspond to explosion, we present a new dimensionless integral condition for explosion, Ψ > 0. Ψ roughly describes the balance between pressure and gravity, and we show that this parameter is equivalent to the τ condition used to infer the L ν –  ˙ critical curve. The illuminating difference is that there is a direct relationship between Ψ and v s . Below the critical curve, Ψ may be negative, positive, and zero, which corresponds to receding, expanding, and stalled-shock solutions. At the critical curve, the minimum Ψ solution is zero; above the critical curve, Ψmin > 0, and all steady solutions have v s > 0. Using one-dimensional simulations, we confirm our primary assumptions and verify that Ψmin > 0 is a reliable and accurate explosion diagnostic.
Authors: Jeremiah W. Murphy, Joshua C. Dolence
Language: English
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1658093607
FWCI: 1.943
Cites: 50
Cited by: 30
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