General-Relativistic Three-Dimensional Multi-Group Neutrino Radiation-Hydrodynamics Simulations of Core-Collapse Supernovae

Abstract

We report on a set of long-term general-relativistic three-dimensional (3D) multi-group (energy-dependent) neutrino radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of core-collapse supernovae. We employ a full 3D two-moment scheme with the local M1 closure, three neutrino species, and 12 energy groups per species. With this, we follow the post-core-bounce evolution of the core of a nonrotating - M 27 progenitor in full unconstrained 3D and in octant symmetry for 380 ms. We find the development of an asymmetric runaway explosion in our unconstrained simulation. We test the resolution dependence of our results and, in agreement with previous work, find that low resolution artificially aids explosion and leads to an earlier runaway expansion of the shock. At low resolution, the octant and full 3D dynamics are qualitatively very similar, but at high resolution, only the full 3D simulation exhibits the onset of explosion.

Spatial distribution of radionuclides in 3D models of SN 1987A and Cas A

“…Although first 3D simulations with energy-dependent neutrino transport have meanwhile obtained successful explosions by neutrino heating (Takiwaki et al (2014), Melson et al (2015a), Melson et al (2015b), Lentz et al (2015), Roberts et al (2016), Müller (2016), the viability of this theoretical scenario is still not generally accepted (e.g., Soker (2017a), Soker (2017b), Kushnir & Katz (2015), Blum & Kushnir (2016)). Doubts are either motivated by refering to those computational models where the numerical setups still failed to produce explosions, or they are justified by pointing to remaining shortcomings of the current calculations, for example the lack of a clear demonstration by modern simulations that neutrino-driven explosions can yield energies around 10 51 erg or more (e.g., Soker (2017a) and references therein).…”

Impact of Neutrino Opacities on Core-collapse Supernova Simulations

“…The most challenging self-consistent three-dimensional (3D) simulations with spectral neutrino transport have failed to produce explosions for 11.2, 20.0, and 27.0M ⊙ progenitors (Hanke et al (2013); Tamborra et al (2014), see, however, Roberts et al (2016) for an exploding 27 M ⊙ model). In a few successful cases, the explosions are more delayed in 3D than in 2D (e.g., Lentz et al (2015) and Melson et al (2015a)), leading to smaller explosion energies in 3D compared to 2D (Takiwaki et al (2014)).…”

“…Other intriguing possibilities to impact the CCSN explodability include general relativity (GR, e.g., Müller et al (2012a); Kuroda et al (2012Kuroda et al ( , 2016; Roberts et al (2016)), stellar rotation (e.g., Yamasaki & Foglizzo (2008); Marek & Janka (2009) ;Suwa et al (2010); Nakamura et al (2014a); Takiwaki et al (2016); Summa et al (2018); Kazeroni et al (2017)), magnetic fields (e.g., Kotake et al (2006); Endeve et al (2012); Guilet & Müller (2015); Masada et al (2015); Obergaulinger & Aloy (2017)), and inhomogeneities in the progenitor's burning shells (e.g., Couch & Ott (2013); Couch et al (2015); Müller (2015); Abdikamalov et al (2016); Müller et al (2017)). …”

Crucial Physical Dependencies of the Core-Collapse Supernova Mechanism

“…Their goal was to explore the relative role of the SASI and neutrino-driven convection, and they found for their simulation of the 27-M progenitor of Woosley et al (2002) that neutrino-driven convection dominated once it started. Roberts et al (2016), using full GR hydrodynamics and an M1 transport scheme (Sect. 2) roughly similar to ours (but without the velocity-dependent terms in the transport, inelastic scattering, or many-body effects), emphasize the importance of spatial resolution in determining whether and how the same 27-M model explodes, as well as the different outcomes for octant and full 4π steradian simulations.…”