Magnetic Fields in Core Collapse Supernovae: Possibilities and Gaps

Abstract

Spectropolarimetry of core collapse supernovae has shown that they are asymmetric and often, but not universally, bi-polar. The Type IIb SN1993J and similar events showed large scatter in the Stokes parameter plane. Observational programs clearly have much more to teach us about the complexity of asymmetric supernovae and the physics involved in the asymmetry. Jet-induced supernova models give a typical jet/torus structure that is reminiscent of some objects like the Crab nebula, SN1987A and perhaps Cas A. Jets, in turn, may arise from the intrinsic rotation and magnetic fields that are expected to accompany core collapse. We summarize the potential importance of the magneto-rotational instability for the core collapse problem and sketch some of the effects that large magnetic fields, ~10^{15} G, may have on the physics of the supernova explosion. Open issues in the problem of multi-dimensional magnetic core collapse are summarized and a critique is given of some recent MHD collapse calculations.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the INT workshop "Open Issues in Understanding Core Collapse Supernovae," Seattle, 2004, ed. T. Mezzacappa (World Scientific