Essential ingredients in core-collapse supernovae

Abstract

Carrying 1044 joules of kinetic energy and a rich mix of newly synthesized atomic nuclei, core-collapse supernovae are the preeminent foundries of the nuclear species which make up our solar system and ourselves. Signaling the inevitable death of a massive star, and the birth of a neutron star or black hole, core-collapse supernovae combine physics over a wide range in spatial scales, from kilometer-sized hydrodynamic motions (eventually growing to gigameter scale) down to femtometer-scale nuclear reactions. We will discuss our emerging understanding of the convectively-unstable, neutrino-driven explosion mechanism, based on increasingly realistic neutrino radiation hydrodynamic simulations that include progressively better nuclear and particle physics. Multi-dimensional models with spectral neutrino transport from several research groups, which slowly develop successful explosions for a range of progenitors, have recently motivated changes in our understanding of the neutrino reheating mechanism. In a similar fashion, improvements in nuclear physics, most notably explorations of weak interactions on nuclei and the nuclear equation of state, continue to refine our understanding of the births of neutron stars and the supernovae that result. Recent progress on both the macroscopic and microscopic effects that affect core-collapse supernovae are discussed.