268 research outputs found
Neutrinos from Fallback onto Newly Formed Neutron Stars
In the standard supernova picture, type Ib/c and type II supernovae are
powered by the potential energy released in the collapse of the core of a
massive star. In studying supernovae, we primarily focus on the ejecta that
makes it beyond the potential well of the collapsed core. But, as we shall show
in this paper, in most supernova explosions, a tenth of a solar mass or more of
the ejecta is decelerated enough that it does not escape the potential well of
that compact object. This material falls back onto the proto-neutron star
within the first 10-15 seconds after the launch of the explosion, releasing
more than 1e52erg of additional potential energy. Most of this energy is
emitted in the form of neutrinos and we must understand this fallback neutrino
emission if we are to use neutrino observations to study the behavior of matter
at high densities. Here we present both a 1-dimensional study of fallback using
energy-injected, supernova explosions and a first study of neutrino emission
from fallback using a suite of 2-dimensional simulations.Comment: 30 pages (including 10 figures), submitted to ApJ, comments welcom
Light Curve Calculations of Supernovae from Fallback Gamma-Ray Bursts
The currently-favored model for long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) invokes
explosions from the collapse of a massive star down to a black hole: either
directly or through fallback. Those GRBs forming via fallback will produce much
less radioactive nickel, and hence it has been argued (without any real
calculation) that these systems produce dim supernovae. These fallback
black-hole GRBs have been recently been argued as possible progenitors of a
newly discovered set of GRBs lacking any associated supernovae. Here we present
the first ever radiation-hydrodynamics calculations of the light-curves
produced in the hypernova explosion by a delayed-fallback gamma-ray burst. We
find that the bolometric light-curve is dominated by shock-deposited energy,
not the decay of radioactive elements. As such, observations of such bursts
actually probe the density in the progenitor wind more than it does the
production of radioactive nickel.Comment: 11 pages (including 3 figures), submitted to ApJ, comments welcom
Modeling Emission from the First Explosions: Pitfalls and Problems
Observations of the explosions of Population III (Pop III) stars have the
potential to teach us much about the formation and evolution of these
zero-metallicity objects. To realize this potential, we must tie observed
emission to an explosion model, which requires accurate light curve and spectra
calculations. Here, we discuss many of the pitfalls and problems involved in
such models, presenting some preliminary results from radiation-hydrodynamics
simulations.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of 'The First Stars and Galaxies:
Challenges for the Next Decade", Austin, TX, March 8-11, 201
Neutron Star Kicks from Asymmetric Collapse
Many neutron stars are observed to be moving with spatial velocities, in
excess of 500km/s. A number of mechanisms have been proposed to give neutron
stars these high velocities. One of the leading classes of models proposed
invokes asymmetries in the core of a massive star just prior to collapse. These
asymmetries grow during the collapse, causing the resultant supernova to also
be asymmetric. As the ejecta is launched, it pushes off (or ``kicks'') the
newly formed neutron star. This paper presents the first 3-dimensional
supernova simulations of this process. The ejecta is not the only matter that
kicks the newly-formed neutron star. Neutrinos also carry away momentum and the
asymmetric collapse leads also to asymmetries in the neutrinos. However, the
neutrino asymmetries tend to damp out the neutron star motions and even the
most extreme asymmetric collapses presented here do not produce final neutron
star velocities above 200km/s.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, see http://qso.lanl.gov/~clf/papers/kick.ps.gz
for full figure
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