891 research outputs found
Nucleosynthesis in Type Ia Supernovae
Among the major uncertainties involved in the Chandrasekhar mass models for
Type Ia supernovae are the companion star of the accreting white dwarf (or the
accretion rate that determines the carbon ignition density) and the flame speed
after ignition. We present nucleosynthesis results from relatively slow
deflagration (1.5 - 3 % of the sound speed) to constrain the rate of accretion
from the companion star. Because of electron capture, a significant amount of
neutron-rich species such as ^{54}Cr, ^{50}Ti, ^{58}Fe, ^{62}Ni, etc. are
synthesized in the central region. To avoid the too large ratios of
^{54}Cr/^{56}Fe and ^{50}Ti/^{56}Fe, the central density of the white dwarf at
thermonuclear runaway must be as low as \ltsim 2 \e9 \gmc. Such a low central
density can be realized by the accretion as fast as \dot M \gtsim 1 \times
10^{-7} M_\odot yr^{-1}. These rapidly accreting white dwarfs might correspond
to the super-soft X-ray sources.Comment: 10 page LaTeX, 7 PostScript figures, to appear in Nuclear Physics A,
Vol. A621 (1997
Pre-Maximum Spectropolarimetry of the Type Ia SN 2004dt
We report observations of SN 2004dt obtained with the Very Large Telescope of
the European Southern Observatory on August 13.30, 2004 when the supernova was
more than a week before optical maximum. SN 2004dt showed strong lines of
\ion{O}{1}, \ion{Mg}{2}, \ion{Si}{2}, and \ion{Ca}{2} with typical velocities
of absorption minimum around 17,000 \kms. The line profiles show material
moving at velocities as high as 25,000 \kms in these lines. The observations
also reveal absorption lines from \ion{S}{2} and \ion{Si}{3} with a velocity of
only 11,000 \kms. The highest velocity in the \ion{S}{2} features can be traced
no higher than 15,000 \kms, much lower than those of O, Mg, Si, and Ca. SN
2004dt has a polarization spectrum unlike any previously observed. The
variation of the polarization across some \ion{Si}{2} lines approaches 2%,
making SN 2004dt the most highly polarized SN Ia ever observed. In contrast,
the strong line of O I at 777.4 nm shows little or no polarization signature.
The degree of polarization points to a richly-structured partially burned
silicon layer with substantial departure from spherical symmetry. A geometry
that would account for the observations is one in which the distribution of
oxygen is essentially spherically symmetric, but with bubbles of
intermediate-mass elements with significant opacity within the oxygen
substrate.Comment: Submitted to Ap
Flame Evolution During Type Ia Supernovae and the Deflagration Phase in the Gravitationally Confined Detonation Scenario
We develop an improved method for tracking the nuclear flame during the
deflagration phase of a Type Ia supernova, and apply it to study the variation
in outcomes expected from the gravitationally confined detonation (GCD)
paradigm. A simplified 3-stage burning model and a non-static ash state are
integrated with an artificially thickened advection-diffusion-reaction (ADR)
flame front in order to provide an accurate but highly efficient representation
of the energy release and electron capture in and after the unresolvable flame.
We demonstrate that both our ADR and energy release methods do not generate
significant acoustic noise, as has been a problem with previous ADR-based
schemes. We proceed to model aspects of the deflagration, particularly the role
of buoyancy of the hot ash, and find that our methods are reasonably
well-behaved with respect to numerical resolution. We show that if a detonation
occurs in material swept up by the material ejected by the first rising bubble
but gravitationally confined to the white dwarf (WD) surface (the GCD
paradigm), the density structure of the WD at detonation is systematically
correlated with the distance of the deflagration ignition point from the center
of the star. Coupled to a suitably stochastic ignition process, this
correlation may provide a plausible explanation for the variety of nickel
masses seen in Type Ia Supernovae.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted to the Astrophysical Journa
SN 2003du: Signatures of the Circumstellar Environment in a Normal Type Ia Supernova?
We present observations of the Type Ia supernova 2003du and report the
detectionof an unusual, high-velocity component in the Ca II infrared triplet,
similar tofeatures previously observed in SN 2000cx and SN 2001el. This feature
exhibits a large expansion velocity (~18,000 km/s) which is nearly constant
between -7 and +2 days relative to maximum light, and disappears shortly
thereafter. Otherthan this feature, the spectral evolution and light curve
resemble those of a normal SN Ia.
We find that the Ca II feature can plausibly be caused by a dense shell
formed when circumstellar material of solar abundance is overrun by the rapidly
expanding outermost layers of the SN ejecta. Model calculations show that the
optical and infrared spectra are remarkably unaffected by the circumstellar
interaction. In particular, no hydrogen lines are detectable in either
absorption or emission. The only qualitatively different features are the
strong, high-velocity feature in the Ca II IR-triplet, and a somewhat weaker O
I feature near 7,300 AA. The morphology and time evolution of these features
provide an estimate for the amount of accumulated matter and an indication of
the mixing in the dense shell. We apply these diagnostic tools to SN 2003du and
infer that about 2 x 10^{-2} M_sun of solar abundance material may have
accumulated in a circumstellar shell prior to the observations. Furthermore,
the early light curve data imply that the circumstellar material was originally
very close to the progenitor system, perhaps from an accretion disk, Roche lobe
or common envelope.Comment: 35 Pages, 11 Figures, to appear in ApJ. Resubmission includes
expanded discussion & new figures to match with accepted journal versio
Analysis of the Flux and Polarization Spectra of the Type Ia Supernova SN 2001el: Exploring the Geometry of the High-velocity Ejecta
SN 2001el is the first normal Type Ia supernova to show a strong, intrinsic
polarization signal. In addition, during the epochs prior to maximum light, the
CaII IR triplet absorption is seen distinctly and separately at both normal
photospheric velocities and at very high velocities. The high-velocity triplet
absorption is highly polarized, with a different polarization angle than the
rest of the spectrum. The unique observation allows us to construct a
relatively detailed picture of the layered geometrical structure of the
supernova ejecta: in our interpretation, the ejecta layers near the photosphere
(v \approx 10,000 km/s) obey a near axial symmetry, while a detached,
high-velocity structure (v \approx 18,000-25,000 km/s) with high CaII line
opacity deviates from the photospheric axisymmetry. By partially obscuring the
underlying photosphere, the high-velocity structure causes a more incomplete
cancellation of the polarization of the photospheric light, and so gives rise
to the polarization peak and rotated polarization angle of the high-velocity IR
triplet feature. In an effort to constrain the ejecta geometry, we develop a
technique for calculating 3-D synthetic polarization spectra and use it to
generate polarization profiles for several parameterized configurations. In
particular, we examine the case where the inner ejecta layers are ellipsoidal
and the outer, high-velocity structure is one of four possibilities: a
spherical shell, an ellipsoidal shell, a clumped shell, or a toroid. The
synthetic spectra rule out the spherical shell model, disfavor a toroid, and
find a best fit with the clumped shell. We show further that different
geometries can be more clearly discriminated if observations are obtained from
several different lines of sight.Comment: 14 pages (emulateapj5) plus 18 figures, accepted by The Astrophysical
Journa
Capturing the Fire: Flame Energetics and Neutronizaton for Type Ia Supernova Simulations
We develop and calibrate a realistic model flame for hydrodynamical
simulations of deflagrations in white dwarf (Type Ia) supernovae. Our flame
model builds on the advection-diffusion-reaction model of Khokhlov and includes
electron screening and Coulomb corrections to the equation of state in a
self-consistent way. We calibrate this model flame--its energetics and
timescales for energy release and neutronization--with self-heating reaction
network calculations that include both these Coulomb effects and up-to-date
weak interactions. The burned material evolves post-flame due to both weak
interactions and hydrodynamic changes in density and temperature. We develop a
scheme to follow the evolution, including neutronization, of the NSE state
subsequent to the passage of the flame front. As a result, our model flame is
suitable for deflagration simulations over a wide range of initial central
densities and can track the temperature and electron fraction of the burned
material through the explosion and into the expansion of the ejecta.Comment: 21 pages, 24 figures, to appear in Ap
Reconstruction of the optical potential from scattering data
We propose a method for reconstruction of the optical potential from
scattering data. The algorithm is a two-step procedure. In the first step the
real part of the potential is determined analytically via solution of the
Marchenko equation. At this point we use a diagonal Pad\'{e} approximant of the
corresponding unitary -matrix. In the second step the imaginary part of the
potential is determined via the phase equation of the variable phase approach.
We assume that the real and the imaginary parts of the optical potential are
proportional. We use the phase equation to calculate the proportionality
coefficient. A numerical algorithm is developed for a single and for coupled
partial waves. The developed procedure is applied to analysis of
, , and data.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, results of nucl-th/0410092 are refined, some new
results are presente
Chemical analysis of aerosol in the Venusian cloud layer by reaction gas chromatography on board the Vega landers
The experiment on sulfuric acid aerosol determination in the Venusian cloud layer on board the Vega landers is described. An average content of sulfuric acid of approximately 1 mg/cu m was found for the samples taken from the atmosphere at heights from 63 to 48 km and analyzed with the SIGMA-3 chromatograph. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) was revealed in the gaseous sample at the height of 48 km. From the experimental results and blank run measurements, a suggestion is made that the Venusian cloud layer aerosol consists of more complicated particles than the sulfuric acid water solution does
Dynamics of Collapse of flexible Polyelectrolytes and Polyampholytes
We provide a theory for the dynamics of collapse of strongly charged
polyelectrolytes (PEs) and flexible polyampholytes (PAs) using Langevin
equation. After the initial stage, in which counterions condense onto PE, the
mechanism of approach to the globular state is similar for PE and PA. In both
instances, metastable pearl-necklace structures form in characteristic time
scale that is proportional to N^{4/5} where N is the number of monomers. The
late stage of collapse occurs by merger of clusters with the largest one
growing at the expense of smaller ones (Lifshitz- Slyozov mechanism). The time
scale for this process T_{COLL} N. Simulations are used to support the proposed
collapse mechanism for PA and PE.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure
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