Stellar Center Research Articles

The motion of twisted particles in a stellar gravitational field

Abstract In this work, we explore the motion of a twisted particle possessing intrinsic orbital angular momentum (OAM) as it traverses a weak stellar gravitational field, which we approximate using a polytropic model. We disregard the spin characteristic of the twisted particle, modeling it as a massless complex twisted scalar wave packet to simplify its interaction with gravitational fields. Building on this simplification, we determine the trajectory of this twisted particle by using the center of its energy density and investigate the gravitational birefringence induced by its OAM. In a weak field approximation, we find the gravitational birefringence-OAM relationship parallels that with spin, as described by the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations. This indicates that the gravitational birefringence induced by OAM can potentially exceed that induced by spin by several orders of magnitude, significantly enhancing its detectability. To broaden our analysis, we introduce a nonminimal coupling term, $\lambda R|\phi|^2$, into the Lagrangian, resulting in the modified expression $\mathcal{L}=-\frac{1}{2}\nabla _\rho\phi\nabla^\rho\phi^*-\frac{1}{2}\lambda R|\phi|^2$. This adjustment is necessitated by the quantization of the scalar field in curved spacetime. We then explore the effects of this term on the motion of the twisted particle. Our findings show that the trajectory of the twisted particle under nonminimal coupling ($\lambda\neq 0$) differs from that in the minimal coupling scenario ($\lambda=0$). Specifically, for a positive nonminimal coupling constant $\lambda$, the trajectory of the twisted particle is expected to deviate away from the stellar center, compared to the minimal coupling scenario.

New Observational Recipes for Measuring Dynamical States of Galaxy Clusters

During cluster assembly, a cluster’s virialization process leaves behind signatures that can provide information on its dynamical state. However, no clear consensus yet exists on the best way to achieve this. Therefore, we attempt to derive improved recipes for classifying the dynamical states of clusters in observations using cosmological simulations. The cluster halo mass and their subhalos’ mass are used to 1014 M ⊙ h −1 and 1010 M ⊙ h −1 to calculate five independent dynamical state indicators. We experiment with recipes by combining two to four indicators for detecting specific merger stages, like recent and ancient mergers. These recipes are made by plotting merging clusters and a control sample of relaxed clusters in multiple-indicator parameter space, then applying a rotation matrix method to derive the best way to separate mergers from the control sample. The success of the recipe is quantified using the success rate and overlap percentage of the merger and control histograms along the newly rotated x-axis. This provides us with recipes using different numbers of combined indicators and for different merger stages. Among the recipes, the stellar mass gap and center offset are the first and second most dominant of the indicators, and using more indicators improves the effectiveness of the recipe. When applied to observations, our results show good agreement with literature values of cluster dynamical states.

Liquid-phase epitaxy of neutron star crusts and white dwarf cores

ABSTRACT Near-equilibrium bottom-up crystallization of fully ionized neutron star crusts or white dwarf cores is considered. We argue that this process is similar to liquid-phase epitaxial (i.e. preserving order of previous layers) crystal growth or crystal pulling from melt in Earth laboratories whereby lateral positions of newly crystallizing ions are anchored by already solidified layers. Their vertical positions are set by charge neutrality. Consequently, interplane spacing of a growing crystal either gradually increases, tracing ne decrease, as the crystallization front moves away from the stellar centre, or decreases, tracing decrease of 〈Z〉, when the crystallization front crosses a boundary between layers of different compositions. This results in the formation of stretched Coulomb crystals, in contrast to the standard assumption of cubic crystal formation, which is based on energetics arguments but does not take into account growth kinetics. Overstretched crystals break, which limits the vertical sizes of growing crystallites. We study breaking shear strain and effective shear modulus of stretched matter and discuss possibility of macrocrystallite formation. The latter has interesting astrophysical implications, for instance, appearance of weak crustal layers, whose strength may increase by a few orders of magnitude upon breaking and refreezing at a late-time event. We also analyse interaction of adjacent Coulomb crystals, having different ion compositions, and estimate the strength of such interfaces.

Orbital Decay of Hot Jupiters due to Weakly Nonlinear Tidal Dissipation

We study tidal dissipation in hot Jupiter host stars due to the nonlinear damping of tidally driven g-modes, extending the calculations of Essick & Weinberg to a wide variety of stellar host types. This process causes the planet’s orbit to decay and has potentially important consequences for the evolution and fate of hot Jupiters. Previous studies either only accounted for linear dissipation processes or assumed that the resonantly excited primary mode becomes strongly nonlinear and breaks as it approaches the stellar center. However, the great majority of hot Jupiter systems are in the weakly nonlinear regime in which the primary mode does not break but instead excites a sea of secondary modes via three-mode interactions. We simulate these nonlinear interactions and calculate the net mode dissipation for stars that range in mass from 0.5M ⊙ ≤ M ⋆ ≤ 2.0M ⊙ and in age from the early main sequence to the subgiant phase. We find that the nonlinearly excited secondary modes can enhance the tidal dissipation by orders of magnitude compared to linear dissipation processes. For the stars with M ⋆ ≲ 1.0M ⊙ of nearly any age, we find that the orbital decay time is ≲100 Myr for orbital periods P orb ≲ 1 day. For M ⋆ ≳ 1.2M ⊙, the orbital decay time only becomes short on the subgiant branch, where it can be ≲10 Myr for P orb ≲ 2 days and result in significant transit time shifts. We discuss these results in the context of known hot Jupiter systems and examine the prospects for detecting their orbital decay with transit timing measurements.

Pulsation-induced Spectroscopic Variability of IRAS Z02229+6208

Monitoring of high-resolution spectra in the optical and near-infrared wavelength region was carried out for the early post-AGB stage star IRAS Z02229+6208 with the CARMENES instrument to reveal spectroscopic variability over the pulsation cycle of 154 days. Significant changes are seen in both the intensity and position of carbon-bearing molecular lines. Strong and broad CN red system lines, blueshifted up to 9.4 km s−1 relative to the stellar photosphere, are seen near the light minimum. Near the light maxima, the molecular features are weak and most of them are in emission, e.g., broad emissions in the CN red system (0,0) lines are seen. A site of formation of molecular absorptions and emissions appears to be an extended atmosphere of a cool post-AGB star affected by stellar pulsation. In addition, we observed narrow absorption lines of the C2 Phillips (2, 0), (3, 0) system and the CN red system (2,0), most likely related to the circumstellar envelope produced during the evolution on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). An expansion velocity of the circumstellar shell was found to be V exp = −11.1 km s−1 relative to the stellar mass center, in agreement with that estimated before from CO lines. The observed spectroscopic variability seems to be typical for pulsating early post-AGB stage stars.

Accreting neutron stars: composition of the upper layers of the inner crust

Abstract We model the nuclear evolution of an accreted matter as it sinks toward the stellar center, in order to find its composition and equation of state. To this aim, we developed a simplified reaction network that allows for redistribution of free neutrons in the inner crust to satisfy the recently suggested neutron hydrostatic and diffusion equilibrium condition. We analyse the main reaction pathways for the three representative thermonuclear ash compositions: Superburst, Kepler, and Extreme rp. In contrast to the previous results, which neglect redistribution of free (unbound) neutrons in the inner crust, the most significant reactions in our calculations are neutron captures and electron emissions. The pycnonuclear fusion plays some role only for Kepler ashes. For the direct application of our results in astrophysical codes we present profiles of the average charge, 〈Z〉, impurity parameter, Qimp and equation of state for a set of models, parametrized by the pressure at the outer-inner crust interface. Typically, for Superburst ashes Qimp ≈ 1 − 4, while for Kepler ashes Qimp decreases from ≈23 at the outer-inner crust interface to ≈5 at the end of our simulation (the corresponding density equals ρdc ≈ 2 × 1012 g cm−3). At the same time, for Extreme rp ashes Qimp remains large ≈30 − 35 in the considered inner crust region. Our results are important for modeling the thermal relaxation of transiently accreting neutron stars after the end of the outburst.

White dwarfs with rapid rotation

A new analytical approach for calculation of white dwarfs characteristics that accounts for two important competing factors — axial rotation and Coulomb interparticle interactions, is proposed. The feature of our approach is simultaneous usage of differential and integral forms of equilibrium equation. In dimensionless form the differential equilibrium equation is strongly nonlinear inhomogeneous equation of the second order in partial derivatives with two dimensionless parameters — the relativistic parameter in stellar center $x_0$ and dimensionless angular velocity $\Omega$. In inner stellar region, rotation is taken into account as perturbation in the linear approximation for $\Omega^2$. In stellar periphery rotation is considered as the main factor. Usage of the integral equation provides correct calculations of integration constants. Dwarf's mass, moment of inertia relative to the axis of rotation, equatorial and polar radii, equatorial gravity in the following parameter space $1\leq x_0\leq24$, $0\leq\Omega<\Omega_{\rm max}(x_0)$ have been calculated based on the solutions of equilibrium equation. For the first time it was calculated the total energy of dwarf as function of these parameters. By the extrapolation, it was calculated the maximal values $\Omega_{\rm max}(x_0)$, as well as the observed angular velocity $\omega_{\rm max}(x_0)$. The considered model is generalized by taking into account Coulomb interparticle interactions. Also, we provide the examples of application of obtained results. It was shown that the characteristics of observed massive dwarfs do not contradict the calculated values for the model with consideration of solid body rotation and Coulomb interparticle interactions.

New method for detecting fast neutrino flavor conversions in core-collapse supernova models with two-moment neutrino transport

Fast-pairwise neutrino oscillations potentially affect many aspects of core-collapse supernova (CCSN): the explosion mechanism, neutrino signals, and nucleosynthesis in the ejecta. This particular mode of collective neutrino oscillations has a deep connection to the angular structure of neutrinos in momentum space; for instance, the appearance of electron neutrinos lepton number (ELN) angular crossings in momentum space is a good indicator of occurrences of the flavor conversions. However, many multi-dimensional (multi-D) CCSN simulations are carried out with approximate neutrino transport (such as two-moment methods), which limits the access to the angular distributions of neutrinos, i.e., inhibits ELN-crossing searches. In this paper, we develop a new method of ELN-crossing search in these CCSN simulations. The required data is the zero-th and first angular moments of neutrinos and matter profile, all of which are available in CCSN models with two-moment method. One of the novelties of our new method is to use a ray-tracing neutrino transport to determine ELNs in the direction of the stellar center. It is designed to compensate for shortcomings of the crossing searches only with the two angular moments. We assess the capability of the method by carrying out a detailed comparison to results of full Boltzmann neutrino transport in 1D and 2D CCSN models. We find that the ray-tracing neutrino transport improves the accuracy of crossing searches; indeed, the appearance/disappearance of the crossings is accurately detected even in the region of forward-peaked angular distributions. The new method is computationally cheap and has a benefit of efficient parallelization; hence, it will be useful for ELN-crossing searches in any CCSN models employed two-moment neutrino transport.

A Distance Determination to the Small Magellanic Cloud with an Accuracy of Better than Two Percent Based on Late-type Eclipsing Binary Stars

Abstract We present a new study of late-type eclipsing binary stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) undertaken with the aim of improving the distance determination to this important galaxy. A sample of 10 new detached, double-lined eclipsing binaries identified from the OGLE variable star catalogs and consisting of F- and G-type giant components has been analyzed. The absolute physical parameters of the individual components have been measured with a typical accuracy of better than 3%. All but one of the systems consist of young and intermediate population stars with masses in the range of 1.4 to 3.8 M ☉. This new sample has been combined with five SMC eclipsing binaries previously published by our team. Distances to the binary systems were calculated using a surface brightness—color calibration. The targets form an elongated structure, highly inclined to the plane of the sky. The distance difference between the nearest and most-distant system amounts to 10 kpc with the line-of-sight depth reaching 7 kpc. We find tentative evidence of the existence of a spherical stellar substructure (core) in the SMC coinciding with its stellar center, containing about 40% of the young and intermediate age stars in the galaxy. The radial extension of this substructure is ∼1.5 kpc. We derive a distance to the SMC center of D SMC = 62.44 ± 0.47 (stat.) ± 0.81 (syst.) kpc corresponding to a distance modulus (m − M)SMC = 18.977 ± 0.016 ± 0.028 mag, representing an accuracy of better than 2%.

A NICER View of PSR J0030+0451: Millisecond Pulsar Parameter Estimation

Abstract We report on Bayesian parameter estimation of the mass and equatorial radius of the millisecond pulsar PSR J0030+0451, conditional on pulse-profile modeling of Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer X-ray spectral-timing event data. We perform relativistic ray-tracing of thermal emission from hot regions of the pulsar’s surface. We assume two distinct hot regions based on two clear pulsed components in the phase-folded pulse-profile data; we explore a number of forms (morphologies and topologies) for each hot region, inferring their parameters in addition to the stellar mass and radius. For the family of models considered, the evidence (prior predictive probability of the data) strongly favors a model that permits both hot regions to be located in the same rotational hemisphere. Models wherein both hot regions are assumed to be simply connected circular single-temperature spots, in particular those where the spots are assumed to be reflection-symmetric with respect to the stellar origin, are strongly disfavored. For the inferred configuration, one hot region subtends an angular extent of only a few degrees (in spherical coordinates with origin at the stellar center) and we are insensitive to other structural details; the second hot region is far more azimuthally extended in the form of a narrow arc, thus requiring a larger number of parameters to describe. The inferred mass M and equatorial radius R eq are, respectively, 1.34 − 0.16 + 0.15 M ⊙ and 12.71 − 1.19 + 1.14 km , while the compactness GM / R eq c 2 = 0.156 − 0.010 + 0.008 is more tightly constrained; the credible interval bounds reported here are approximately the 16% and 84% quantiles in marginal posterior mass.

Off-axis Synchrotron Light Curves from Full-time-domain Moving-mesh Simulations of Jets from Massive Stars

Abstract We present full-time-domain (FTD), moving-mesh, relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of jets launched from the center of a massive progenitor star and compute the resulting synchrotron light curves for observers at a range of viewing angles. We follow jet evolution from ignition inside the stellar center, propagation in the stellar envelope and breakout from the stellar surface, then through the coasting and deceleration phases. The jet compresses into a thin shell, sweeps up the circumstellar medium, and eventually enters the Newtonian phase. The jets naturally develop angular and radial structure due to hydrodynamical interaction with surrounding gas. The calculated synchrotron light curves cover the observed temporal range of prompt to late afterglow phases of long gamma-ray bursts. The on-axis light curves exhibit an early emission pulse originating in shock-heated stellar material, followed by a shallow decay and a later steeper decay. The off-axis light curves rise earlier than previously expected for top-hat jet models—on a timescale of seconds to minutes after jet breakout—and decay afterward. Sometimes the off-axis light curves have later rebrightening components that can be contemporaneous with SNe Ic-bl emission. Our calculations may shed light on the structure of GRB outflows in the afterglow stage. The off-axis light curves from FTD simulations advocate new light-curve templates for the search of off-axis/orphan afterglows.

Trace of the energy-momentum tensor and macroscopic properties of neutron stars

A generic feature of scalar extensions of general relativity is the coupling of the scalar degrees of freedom to the trace $T$ of the energy-momentum tensor of matter fields. Interesting phenomenology arises when the trace becomes positive---when pressure exceeds one third of the energy density---a condition that may be satisfied in the core of neutron stars. In this work, we study how the positiveness of the trace of the energy-momentum tensor correlates with macroscopic properties of neutron stars. We first show that the compactness for which $T=0$ at the stellar center is approximately equation-of-state independent, and given by $C = 0.262_{-0.017}^{+0.011}$ (90% confidence interval). Next, we exploit Bayesian inference to derive a probability distribution function for the value of $T$ at the stellar center given a putative measurement of the compactness of a neutron star. This investigation is a necessary step in order to use present and future observations of neutron star properties to constrain scalar-tensor theories based on effects that depend on the sign of $T$.

Investigating the rotational phase of stellar flares on M dwarfs using K2 short cadence data

We present an analysis of K2 short cadence data of 34 M dwarfs which have spectral types in the range M0 - L1. Of these stars, 31 showed flares with a duration between $\sim$10-90 min. Using distances obtained from Gaia DR2 parallaxes, we determined the energy of the flares to be in the range $\sim1.2\times10^{29}-6\times10^{34}$ erg. In agreement with previous studies we find rapidly rotating stars tend to show more flares, with evidence for a decline in activity in stars with rotation periods longer than $\sim$10 days. The rotational modulation seen in M dwarf stars is widely considered to result from a starspot which rotates in and out of view. Flux minimum is therefore the rotation phase where we view the main starspot close to the stellar disk center. Surprisingly, having determined the rotational phase of each flare in our study we find none show any preference for rotational phase. We outline three scenarios which could account for this unexpected finding. The relationship between rotation phase and flare rate will be explored further using data from wide surveys such as NGTS and TESS.

Evaluating tests of virialization and substructure using galaxy clusters in the ORELSE survey

We evaluated the effectiveness of different indicators of cluster virialization using 12 large-scale structures in the ORELSE survey spanning from $0.7<z<1.3$. We located diffuse X-ray emission from 16 galaxy clusters using Chandra observations. We studied the properties of these clusters and their members, using Chandra data in conjunction with optical and near-IR imaging and spectroscopy. We measured X-ray luminosities and gas temperatures of each cluster, as well as velocity dispersions of their member galaxies. We compared these results to scaling relations derived from virialized clusters, finding significant offsets of up to 3-4$\sigma$ for some clusters, which could indicate they are disturbed or still forming. We explored if other properties of the clusters correlated with these offsets by performing a set of tests of virialization and substructure on our sample, including Dressler-Schectman tests, power ratios, analyses of the velocity distributions of galaxy populations, and centroiding differences. For comparison to a wide range of studies, we used two sets of tests: ones that did and did not use spectral energy distribution fitting to obtain rest-frame colours, stellar masses, and photometric redshifts of galaxies. Our results indicated that the difference between the stellar mass or light mean-weighted center and the X-ray center, as well as the projected offset of the most-massive/brightest cluster galaxy from other cluster centroids had the strongest correlations with scaling relation offsets, implying they are the most robust indicators of cluster virialization and can be used for this purpose when X-ray data is insufficiently deep for reliable $L_X$ and $T_X$ measurements.

Two Coexisting Families of Compact Stars: Observational Implications for Millisecond Pulsars

Abstract It is usually thought that a single equation of state (EoS) model “correctly” represents cores of all compact stars. Here we emphasize that two families of compact stars, viz., neutron stars and strange stars, can coexist in nature, and that neutron stars can get converted to strange stars through the nucleation process of quark matter in the stellar center. From our fully general relativistic numerical computations of the structures of fast-spinning compact stars, known as millisecond pulsars, we find that such a stellar conversion causes a simultaneous spin-up and decrease in gravitational mass of these stars. This is a new type of millisecond pulsar evolution through a new mechanism, which gives rise to relatively lower mass compact stars with higher spin rates. This could have an implication for the observed mass and spin distributions of millisecond pulsars. Such a stellar conversion can also rescue some massive, spin-supported millisecond pulsars from collapsing into black holes. Besides, we extend the concept of critical mass for the neutron star sequence to the case of fast-spinning neutron stars, and point out that neutron star EoS models cannot be ruled out by the stellar mass measurement alone. Finally, we emphasize the additional complexity for constraining EoS models, for example, by stellar radius measurements using X-ray observations, if two families of compact stars coexist.

Nonradial oscillations of neutron stars and emitted gravitational waves: Computing strongly damped normal modes

In this paper, we compute eigenfrequencies of strongly damped normal modes arising from the coupling of the nonradial oscillations of a neutron star to the oscillations of the space-time metric, so-called “w-modes”, by integrating all involved differential equations in the complex plane. Regarding the interior of the star, we use the so-called “complex-plane strategy”. Specifically, we integrate the differential equations of the nonradial fluid oscillations of a general-relativistic polytropic model, simulating the star, along a straight-line contour placed parallel to the real axis and at small imaginary distance from it, thus avoiding a singularity at the stellar center. Regarding the exterior of the star, we use a method proposed by Andersson, Kokkotas and Schutz, following a slightly different terminating procedure. Specifically, (i) we integrate the equations along a straight-line contour lying parallel to the so-called “anti-Stokes lines”, on which the exponential divergence of the solution is drastically suppressed, so that the outgoing and ingoing waves become comparable; and (ii) we carry out one final integration up to a “common reference point”, thus comparing all results at this point. We verify the reliability and accuracy of the method by comparing our numerical results to corresponding ones appearing in the bibliography.

Measuring stellar granulation during planet transits

Context. Stellar activity and convection-related surface structures might cause bias in planet detection and characterization that use these transits. Surface convection simulations help to quantify the granulation signal. Aims. We used realistic three-dimensional (3D) radiative hydrodynamical (RHD) simulations from the Stagger grid and synthetic images computed with the radiative transfer code Optim3D to model the transits of three prototype planets: a hot Jupiter, a hot Neptune, and a terrestrial planet. Methods. We computed intensity maps from RHD simulations of the Sun and a K-dwarf star at different wavelength bands from optical to far-infrared that cover the range of several ground- and space-based telescopes which observe exoplanet transits. We modeled the transit using synthetic stellar-disk images obtained with a spherical-tile imaging method and emulated the temporal variation of the granulation intensity generating random images covering a granulation time-series of 13.3 h. We measured the contribution of the stellar granulation on the light curves during the planet transit. Results. We identified two types of granulation noise that act simultaneously during the planet transit: (i) the intrinsic change in the granulation pattern with timescale (e.g., 10 min for solar-type stars assumed in this work) is smaller than the usual planet transit (~hours as in our prototype cases); and (ii) the fact that the transiting planet occults isolated regions of the photosphere that differ in local surface brightness as a result of convective-related surface structures. First, we showed that our modeling approach returns granulation timescale fluctuations that are comparable with what has been observed for the Sun. Then, our statistical approach shows that the granulation pattern of solar and K-dwarf-type stars have a non-negligible effect of the light curve depth during the transit, and, consequentially on the determination of the planet transit parameters such as the planet radius (up to 0.90% and ~0.47% for terrestrial and gaseous planets, respectively). We also showed that larger (or smaller) orbital inclination angles with respect to values corresponding to transit at the stellar center display a shallower transit depth and longer ingress and egress times, but also granulation fluctuations that are correlated to the center-to-limb variation: they increase (or decrease) the value of the inclination, which amplifies the fluctuations. The granulation noise appears to be correlated among the different wavelength ranges either in the visible or in the infrared regions. Conclusions. The prospects for planet detection and characterization with transiting methods are excellent with access to large amounts of data for stars. The granulation has to be considered as an intrinsic uncertainty (as a result of stellar variability) on the precise measurements of exoplanet transits of planets. The full characterization of the granulation is essential for determining the degree of uncertainty on the planet parameters. In this context, the use of 3D RHD simulations is important to measure the convection-related fluctuations. This can be achieved by performing precise and continuous observations of stellar photometry and radial velocity, as we explained with RHD simulations, before, after, and during the transit periods.

TIDALLY INDUCED OFFSET DISKS IN MAGELLANIC SPIRAL GALAXIES

ABSTRACT Magellanic spiral galaxies are a class of one-armed systems that often exhibit an offset stellar bar and are rarely found around massive spiral galaxies. Using a set of N-body and hydrodynamic simulations, we consider a dwarf–dwarf galaxy interaction as the driving mechanism for the formation of this peculiar class of systems. We investigate here the relation between the dynamical, stellar, and gaseous disk center and the bar. In all our simulations the bar center always coincides with the dynamical center, while the stellar disk becomes highly asymmetric during the encounter, causing the photometric center of the Magellanic galaxy disk to become mismatched with both the bar and the dynamical center. The disk asymmetries persist for almost 2 Gyr, the time that it takes for the disk to be recentered with the bar, and well after the companion has passed. This explains the nature of the offset bar found in many Magellanic-type galaxies, including the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and NGC 3906. In particular, these results, once applied to the LMC, suggest that the dynamical center should reside in the bar center instead of the H i center as previously assumed, pointing to a variation in the current estimate of the north component of the LMC proper motion.

Neutronization of matter in a stellar core and convection during gravitational collapse

The roles of neutrinos and convective instability in collapsing supernovae are considered. Spherically symmetrical computations of the collapse using the Boltzmann equation for the neutrinos lead to the formation of the condition of convective instability, \({\left( {\frac{{\partial P}}{{\partial s}}} \right)_{\rho {Y_l}}}\frac{{ds}}{{dr}} + {\left( {\frac{{\partial P}}{{\partial {Y_L}}}} \right)_{\rho s}}\frac{{d{Y_L}}}{{dr}}\) < 0, in a narrow region of matter accretion above the neutrinosphere. If instability arises in this region, the three-dimensional solution will represent a correction to the spherically symmetrical solution for the gravitational collapse. The mean neutrino energies change only negligibly in the narrow region of accretion. Nuclear statistical equilibrium is usually assumed in the hot proto-neutron stellar core, to simplify the computations of the collapse. Neutronization with the participation of free neutrons is most efficient. However, the decay of nuclei into nucleons is hindered during the collapse, because the density grows too rapidly compared to the growth in the temperature, and an appreciable fraction of the energy is carried away by neutrinos. The entropy of the matter per nucleon is modest at the stellar center. All the energy is in degenerate electrons during the collapse. If the large energy of these degenerate electrons is taken into account, neutrons are efficiently formed, even in cool matter with reduced Ye (the difference between the numbers of electrons and positrons per nucleon). This process brings about an increase in the optical depth to neutrinos, the appearance of free neutrons, and an increase in the entropy per nucleon at the center. The convectively unstable region at the center increases. The development of large-scale convection is illustrated using a multi-dimensional gas-dynamical model for the evolution of a stationary, unstable state (without taking into account neutrino transport). The time for the development of convective instability (several milliseconds) does not exceed the time for the existence of the unstable region at the center (10ms). The realization of this type of instability is fundamentally different from a spherically symmetrical model. The flux of neutrinos changes and the mean energy of the neutrinos is increased, which has important implications for the detection of neutrinos from supernovae. For these same reasons, the energy absorped in the supernova envelope also changes in the transition to such a multi-dimensional model.

Some properties of convection in hybrid stars

It is shown that the unusual thermodynamic properties of matter within the region of two-phase coexistence in hybrid stars result in a change of the standard condition for beginning of convection. In particular, the thermal flux transported by convection may be directed towards the stellar center. We discuss favorable circumstances leading to such an effect of "inverse convection" and its possible influence on the thermal evolution of hybrid stars.