Core-collapse Supernova Simulations Research Articles

Insights into the Production of 44Ti and Nickel Isotopes in Core-collapse Supernovae

We report nucleosynthetic results for both 44Ti and nickel isotopes for 18 three-dimensional (3D) core-collapse supernova (CCSN) simulations extended to ∼20 s after bounce. We find that many of our long-term models are able to achieve 44Ti/56Ni ratios similar to that observed in Cassiopeia A, and modern supernova models can synthesize up to 2 × 10−4 M ⊙ of 44Ti. Neutrino-driven winds and the fact that there can be simultaneous accretion and explosion in 3D models of CCSNe play central roles in its production. We conclude that the 44Ti underproduction problem in previous CCSN models is no longer an issue. In addition, we discuss the production of both 57Ni and stable nickel/iron ratios and compare our results to observations of SN 1987A and the Crab.

Estimate for the Bulk Viscosity of Strongly Coupled Quark Matter Using Perturbative QCD and Holography.

Modern hydrodynamic simulations of core-collapse supernovae and neutron-star mergers require knowledge not only of the equilibrium properties of strongly interacting matter, but also of the system's response to perturbations, encoded in various transport coefficients. Using perturbative and holographic tools, we derive here an improved weak-coupling and a new strong-coupling result for the most important transport coefficient of unpaired quark matter, its bulk viscosity. These results are combined in a simple analytic pocket formula for the quantity that is rooted in perturbative quantum chromodynamics at high densities but takes into account nonperturbative holographic input at neutron-star densities, where the system is strongly coupled. This expression can be used in the modeling of unpaired quark matter at astrophysically relevant temperatures and densities.

Structure Factors for Hot Neutron Matter from AbInitio Lattice Simulations with High-Fidelity Chiral Interactions.

We present the first abinitio lattice calculations of spin and density correlations in hot neutron matter using high-fidelity interactions at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in chiral effective field theory. These correlations have a large impact on neutrino heating and shock revival in core-collapse supernovae and are encapsulated in functions called structure factors. Unfortunately, calculations of structure factors using high-fidelity chiral interactions were well out of reach using existing computational methods. In this Letter, we solve the problem using a computational approach called the rank-one operator (RO) method. The RO method is a general technique with broad applications to simulations of fermionic many-body systems. It solves the problem of exponential scaling of computational effort when using perturbation theory for higher-body operators and higher-order corrections. Using the RO method, we compute the vector and axial static structure factors for hot neutron matter as a function of temperature and density. The abinitio lattice results are in good agreement with virial expansion calculations at low densities but are more reliable at higher densities. Random phase approximation codes used to estimate neutrino opacity in core-collapse supernovae simulations can now be calibrated with abinitio lattice calculations.

Chaos in inhomogeneous neutrino fast flavor instability

In dense neutrino gases, the neutrino-neutrino coherent forward scattering gives rise to a complex flavor oscillation phenomenon not fully incorporated in simulations of neutron star mergers (NSM) and core collapse supernovae (CCSNe). Moreover, it has been proposed to be chaotic, potentially limiting our ability to predict neutrino flavor transformations in simulations. To address this issue, we explore how small flavor perturbations evolve in the nonlinear regime of the neutrino quantum kinetic equation within a narrow centimeter-scale region inside a NSM and a toy neutrino distribution. Our findings reveal that paths in the flavor state space of solutions with similar initial conditions diverge exponentially, exhibiting chaos. This inherent chaos makes the microscopic scales of neutrino flavor transformations unpredictable. However, the domain-averaged neutrino density matrix remains relatively stable, with chaos minimally affecting it. This particular property suggests that domain-averaged quantities remain reliable despite the exponential amplification of errors. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Contribution of Neutrino-dominated Accretion Flows to the Cosmic MeV Neutrino Background

Neutrino-dominated accretion flows (NDAFs) are one of the important MeV neutrino sources and significantly contribute to the cosmic diffuse neutrino background. In this paper, we investigate the spectrum of the diffuse NDAF neutrino background (DNNB) by fully considering the effects of the progenitor properties and initial explosion energies based on core-collapse supernova (CCSN) simulations, and estimate the detectable event rate by the Super-Kamiokande detector. We find that the predicted background neutrino flux is mainly determined by the typical CCSN initial explosion energy and progenitor metallicity. For the optimistic cases, in which the typical initial explosion energy is low, the diffuse flux of the DNNB is comparable to the diffuse supernova neutrino background, which might be detected by upcoming larger neutrino detectors, such as Hyper-Kamiokande, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Moreover, the strong outflows from NDAFs could dramatically decrease their contribution to the neutrino background.

Gray two-moment neutrino transport: Comprehensive tests and improvements for supernova simulations

In this work we extended an energy-integrated neutrino transport method to facilitate efficient, yet precise, modeling of compact astrophysical objects. We particularly focus on core-collapse supernovae. We implemented a gray neutrino-transport framework from the literature into FLASH and performed a detailed evaluation of its accuracy in core-collapse supernova simulations. Based on comparisons with results from simulations using energy-dependent neutrino transport, we incorporated several improvements to the original scheme. Our analysis shows that our gray neutrino transport method successfully reproduces key aspects from more complex energy-dependent transport across a variety of progenitors and equations of state. We find both qualitative and reasonable quantitative agreement with multi-group M1 transport simulations. However, the gray scheme tends to slightly favor shock revival. In terms of gravitational wave and neutrino signals, there is a good alignment with the energy-dependent transport, although we find 15-30<!PCT!> discrepancies in the average energy and luminosity of heavy-lepton neutrinos. Simulations using the gray transport are around four times faster than those using energy-dependent transport.

General-relativistic Radiation Transport Scheme in Gmunu. II. Implementation of Novel Microphysical Library for Neutrino Radiation—Weakhub

We introduce Weakhub, a novel neutrino microphysics library that provides opacities and kernels beyond conventional interactions used in the literature. This library includes neutrino–matter, neutrino–neutrino interactions and plasma process, along with corresponding weak and strong corrections. A full kinematics approach is adopted for the calculations of β-processes, incorporating various weak corrections and medium modifications due to the nuclear equation of state. Calculations of plasma processes, electron neutrino–antineutrino annihilation, and nuclear de-excitation are also included. We also present the detailed derivations of weak interactions and the coupling to the two-moment based general-relativistic multigroup radiation transport in the general-relativistic multigrid numerical (Gmunu) code. We compare the neutrino opacity spectra for all interactions and estimate their contributions at hydrodynamical points in core-collapse supernovae and binary neutron star (BNS) postmerger remnants, and predict the effects of improved opacities in comparison to conventional ones for a BNS postmerger at a specific hydrodynamical point. We test the implementation of the conventional set of interactions by comparing it to an open-source neutrino library NuLib in a core-collapse supernova simulation. We demonstrate good agreement with discrepancies of less than ∼10% in luminosity for all neutrino species, while also highlighting the reasons contributing to the differences. To compare the advanced interactions to the conventional set in core-collapse supernova modeling, we perform simulations to analyze their impacts on neutrino signatures, hydrodynamical behaviors, and shock dynamics, showing significant deviations.

Constraining the Onset Density for the QCD Phase Transition with the Neutrino Signal from Core-collapse Supernovae

The occurrence of a first-order hadron–quark matter phase transition at high baryon densities is investigated in astrophysical simulations of core-collapse supernovae, to decipher yet incompletely understood properties of the dense matter equation of state (EOS) using neutrinos from such cosmic events. It is found that the emission of a nonstandard second neutrino burst, dominated by electron antineutrinos, is not only a measurable signal for the appearance of deconfined quark matter but also reveals information about the state of matter at extreme conditions encountered at the supernova (SN) interior. To this end, a large set of spherically symmetric SN models is investigated, studying the dependence on the EOS and the stellar progenitor. General relativistic neutrino-radiation hydrodynamics is employed featuring three-flavor Boltzmann neutrino transport and a microscopic hadron-quark hybrid matter EOS class. Therefore, the DD2 relativistic mean-field hadronic model is employed, and several variations of it, and the string-flip model for the description of deconfined quark matter. The resulting hybrid model covers a representative range of onset densities for the phase transition and latent heats. This facilitates the direct connection between intrinsic signatures of the neutrino signal and properties of the EOS. In particular, a set of linear relations has been found empirically. These potentially provide a constraint for the onset density of a possible QCD phase transition from the future neutrino observation of the next galactic core-collapse SN, if a millisecond electron anti-neutrino burst is present around or less than 1 s.

The Physics of Core-Collapse Supernovae: Explosion Mechanism and Explosive Nucleosynthesis

Recent developments in multi-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae have considerably improved our understanding of this complex phenomenon. In addition to that, one-dimensional (1D) studies have been employed to study the explosion mechanism and its causal connection to the pre-collapse structure of the star, as well as to explore the vast parameter space of supernovae. Nonetheless, many uncertainties still affect the late stages of the evolution of massive stars, their collapse, and the subsequent shock propagation. In this review, we will briefly summarize the state-of-the-art of both 1D and 3D simulations and how they can be employed to study the evolution of massive stars, supernova explosions, and shock propagation, focusing on the uncertainties that affect each of these phases. Finally, we will illustrate the typical nucleosynthesis products that emerge from the explosion.

A Parametric Study of the SASI Comparing General Relativistic and Nonrelativistic Treatments* * Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or

We present numerical results from a parameter study of the standing accretion shock instability (SASI), investigating the impact of general relativity (GR) on the dynamics. Using GR hydrodynamics with GR gravity, and nonrelativistic (NR) hydrodynamics with Newtonian gravity, in an idealized model setting, we vary the initial radius of the shock, and by varying its mass and radius in concert, the proto-neutron star compactness. We investigate four compactnesses expected in a post-bounce core-collapse supernova (CCSN). We find that GR leads to a longer SASI oscillation period, with ratios between the GR and NR cases as large as 1.29 for the highest-compactness suite. We also find that GR leads to a slower SASI growth rate, with ratios between the GR and NR cases as low as 0.47 for the highest-compactness suite. We discuss implications of our results for CCSN simulations.

Physical Correlations and Predictions Emerging from Modern Core-collapse Supernova Theory

In this paper, we derive correlations between core-collapse supernova observables and progenitor core structures that emerge from our suite of 20 state-of-the-art 3D core-collapse supernova simulations carried to late times. 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, 56Ni and α-rich freezeout yields, 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 energy and mass dipoles. While the correlations between two observables are roughly independent of the progenitor zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) mass, the many correlations we derive with compactness cannot unambiguously be tied to a particular progenitor ZAMS mass. This relationship depends on the compactness/ZAMS mass mapping associated with the massive star progenitor models employed. Therefore, our derived correlations between compactness and observables may be more robust than with ZAMS mass but can nevertheless be used in the future once massive star modeling has converged.

The Influence of Stellar Rotation in Binary Systems on Core-collapse Supernova Progenitors and Multimessenger Signals

The detailed structure of core-collapse supernova progenitors is crucial for studying supernova explosion engines and the corresponding multimessenger signals. In this paper, we investigate the influence of stellar rotation on binary systems consisting of a 30M ⊙ donor star and a 20M ⊙ accretor using the MESA stellar evolution code. We find that through mass transfer in binary systems, fast-rotating red- and blue-supergiant progenitors can be formed within a certain range of the initial orbital periods, although the correlation is not linear. We also find that even with the same initial mass ratio of the binary system, the resulting final masses of the collapsars, the iron core masses, the compactness parameters, and the final rotational rates can vary widely and are sensitive to the initial orbital periods. For instance, the progenitors with strong convection form a thinner Si shell and a wider O shell compared to those in single-star systems. In addition, we conduct 2D self-consistent core-collapse supernova simulations with neutrino transport for these rotating progenitors derived from binary stellar evolution. We find that the neutrino and gravitational-wave signatures of these binary progenitors could exhibit significant variations. Progenitors with larger compactness parameters produce more massive proto-neutron stars, have higher mass accretion rates, and emit brighter neutrino luminosity and louder gravitational emissions. Finally, we observe stellar-mass black hole formation in some of our failed exploding models.

A Theory for Neutron Star and Black Hole Kicks and Induced Spins

Using 20 long-term 3D core-collapse supernova simulations, we find that lower compactness progenitors that explode quasi-spherically due to the short delay to explosion experience smaller neutron star recoil kicks in the ∼100−200 km s−1 range, while higher compactness progenitors that explode later and more aspherically leave neutron stars with kicks in the ∼300−1000 km s−1 range. In addition, we find that these two classes are correlated with the gravitational mass of the neutron star. This correlation suggests that the survival of binary neutron star systems may in part be due to their lower kick speeds. We also find a correlation between the kick and both the mass dipole of the ejecta and the explosion energy. Furthermore, one channel of black hole birth leaves masses of ∼10 M ⊙, is not accompanied by a neutrino-driven explosion, and experiences small kicks. A second channel is through a vigorous explosion that leaves behind a black hole with a mass of ∼3.0 M ⊙ kicked to high speeds. We find that the induced spins of nascent neutron stars range from seconds to ∼10 ms, but do not yet see a significant spin/kick correlation for pulsars. We suggest that if an initial spin biases the explosion direction, a spin/kick correlation would be a common byproduct of the neutrino mechanism of core-collapse supernovae. Finally, the induced spin in explosive black hole formation is likely large and in the collapsar range. This new 3D model suite provides a greatly expanded perspective and appears to explain some observed pulsar properties by default.

Physics-informed neural networks for predicting the asymptotic outcome of fast neutrino flavor conversions

In the most extreme astrophysical environments, such as core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and neutron star mergers (NSMs), neutrinos can undergo fast flavor conversions (FFCs) on exceedingly short scales. Intensive simulations have demonstrated that FFCs can attain equilibrium states in certain models. In this study, we utilize physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) to predict the asymptotic outcomes of FFCs, by specifically targeting the first two moments of neutrino angular distributions. This makes our approach suitable for state-of-the-art CCSN and NSM simulations. Through effective feature engineering and the incorporation of customized loss functions that penalize discrepancies in the predicted total number of νe and ν¯e, our PINNs demonstrate remarkable accuracies, with an error margin of ≲3%. Our study represents a substantial leap forward in the potential incorporation of FFCs into simulations of CCSNe and NSMs, thereby enhancing our understanding of these extraordinary astrophysical events. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Including Neutrino-driven Convection in the Force Explosion Condition to Predict Explodability of Multidimensional Core-collapse Supernovae (FEC+)

Most massive stars end their lives with core collapse. However, it is not clear which explode as a core-collapse supernova (CCSN), leaving behind a neutron star, and which collapse to a black hole, aborting the explosion. One path to predict explodability without expensive multidimensional simulations is to develop analytic explosion conditions. These analytic conditions also provide a deeper understanding of the explosion mechanism and they provide some insight into why some simulations explode and some do not. The analytic force explosion condition (FEC) reproduces the explosion conditions of spherically symmetric CCSN simulations. In this follow-up manuscript, we include the dominant multidimensional effect that aids explosion—neutrino-driven convection—in the FEC. This generalized critical condition (FEC+) is suitable for multidimensional simulations and has potential to accurately predict explosion conditions of two- and three-dimensional CCSN simulations. We show that adding neutrino-driven convection reduces the critical condition by ∼30%, which is consistent with previous multidimensional simulations.

Nucleosynthetic Analysis of Three-dimensional Core-collapse Supernova Simulations

We study in detail the ejecta conditions and theoretical nucleosynthetic results for 18 three-dimensional core-collapse supernova (CCSN) simulations done by Fornax. Most of the simulations are carried out to at least 3 s after bounce, which allows us to follow their longer-term behaviors. We find that multidimensional effects introduce many complexities into the ejecta conditions. We see a stochastic electron fraction evolution, complex peak temperature distributions and histories, and long-tail distributions of the time spent within nucleosynthetic temperature ranges. These all lead to substantial variation in CCSN nucleosynthetic yields and differences from 1D results. We discuss the production of lighter α-nuclei, radioactive isotopes, heavier elements, and a few isotopes of special interest. Comparing pre-CCSN and CCSN contributions, we find that a significant fraction of elements between roughly Si and Ge are generally produced in CCSNe. We find that 44Ti exhibits an extended production timescale as compared to 56Ni, which may explain its different distribution and higher than previously predicted abundances in supernova remnants such as Cas A and SN1987A. We also discuss the morphology of the ejected elements. This study highlights the high-level diversity of ejecta conditions and nucleosynthetic results in 3D CCSN simulations and emphasizes the need for additional long-term (∼10 s) 3D simulations to properly address such complexities.

A New Kilohertz Gravitational-wave Feature from Rapidly Rotating Core-collapse Supernovae

We present self-consistent three-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulations of a rotating 20M ⊙ progenitor model with various initial angular velocities from 0.0 to 4.0 rad s−1 using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code SPHYNX and the grid-based hydrodynamics code FLASH. We identify two strong gravitational-wave features with peak frequencies of ∼300 Hz and ∼1.3 kHz in the first 100 ms postbounce. We demonstrate that these two features are associated with the m = 1 deformation from the proto-neutron star (PNS) modulation induced by the low-T/∣W∣ instability, regardless of the simulation code. The 300 Hz feature is present in models with an initial angular velocity between 1.0 and 4.0 rad s−1, while the 1.3 kHz feature is only present in a narrower range, from 1.5 to 3.5 rad s−1. We show that the 1.3 kHz signal originates from the high-density inner core of the PNS, and the m = 1 deformation triggers a strong asymmetric distribution of electron antineutrinos. In addition to the 300 Hz and 1.3 kHz features, we also observe one weaker but noticeable gravitational-wave feature from higher-order modes in the range between 1.5 and 3.5 rad s−1. Its initial peak frequency is around 800 Hz, and it gradually increases to 900–1000 Hz. Therefore, in addition to the gravitational bounce signal, the detection of the 300 Hz, 1.3 kHz, the higher-order mode, and even the related asymmetric emission of neutrinos could provide additional diagnostics for estimating the initial angular velocity of a collapsing core.

Collisional and fast neutrino flavor instabilities in two-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulation with Boltzmann neutrino transport

Collisional and fast neutrino flavor instabilities in two-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulation with Boltzmann neutrino transport

On the treatment of phenomenological turbulent effects in one-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae

ABSTRACT We have developed a phenomenological turbulent model with one-dimensional (1D) simulation based on Reynolds decomposition. Using this method, we have systematically studied models with different effects of compression, mixing length parameters, and diffusion coefficient of internal energy, turbulence energy, and electron fraction. With employed turbulent effects, supernova explosion can be achieved in 1D geometry, which can mimic the evolution of shock in the 3D simulations. We found that enhancement of turbulent energy by compression affects the early shock evolution. The diffusion coefficients of internal energy and turbulent energy also affect the explodability. The smaller diffusion makes the shock revival faster. Our comparison between the two reveals that the diffusion coefficients of internal energy has a greater impact. These simulations would help understand the role of turbulence in core-collapse supernovae.

Characterizing the Directionality of Gravitational Wave Emission from Matter Motions within Core-collapse Supernovae

We analyze the directional dependence of the gravitational wave (GW) emission from 15 3D neutrino radiation hydrodynamic simulations of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe). Using spin weighted spherical harmonics, we develop a new analytic technique to quantify the evolution of the distribution of GW emission over all angles. We construct a physics-informed toy model that can be used to approximate GW distributions for general ellipsoid-like systems, and use it to provide closed form expressions for the distribution of GWs for different CCSN phases. Using these toy models, we approximate the protoneutron star (PNS) dynamics during multiple CCSN stages and obtain similar GW distributions to simulation outputs. When considering all viewing angles, we apply this new technique to quantify the evolution of preferred directions of GW emission. For nonrotating cases, this dominant viewing angle drifts isotropically throughout the supernova, set by the dynamical timescale of the PNS. For rotating cases, during core bounce and the following tens of milliseconds, the strongest GW signal is observed along the equator. During the accretion phase, comparable—if not stronger—GW amplitudes are generated along the axis of rotation, which can be enhanced by the low T/∣W∣ instability. We show two dominant factors influencing the directionality of GW emission are the degree of initial rotation and explosion morphology. Lastly, looking forward, we note the sensitive interplay between GW detector site and supernova orientation, along with its effect on detecting individual polarization modes.