Advancing to the Third Dimension: Supernova Models Confronting Observations

by Hans-Thomas Janka (MPI Astrophysics, Garching)

Tuesday 1 Mar 2011, 17:15 → 18:15 Europe/Berlin

Auditorium

Gravitational collapse events and supernova explosions are generically three-dimensional phenomena. This crucial point was brought home for the first time by observations of Supernova 1987A, but many of its implications are recognized only as computational models of supernova explosions become increasingly more sophisticated and begin to advance to the third dimension and longer evolution periods. This development has led to a better understanding of the role of neutrinos for driving the explosion, new insights into the characteristics of the neutrino and gravitational-wave emission of supernovae, and the discovery of links between pulsar kicks and spins, supernova nucleosynthesis, and the origin of asymmetries seen in the gaseous remnants of stellar explosions. The talk will highlight the state-of-the-art modeling efforts of the Garching group and will report on successes as well as remaining problems and open questions in connection with neutrino-driven explosions.