Stellar Collapse

Supernovae, hypernovae and gamma-ray bursts are among the most energetic explosions in the universe. The light from these outbursts is, for a brief time, comparable to billions of stars and can outshine the host galaxy within which the explosions reside. Most of the heavy elements in the universe are formed within these energetic explosions. Surprisingly enough, the collapse of massive stars is the primary source of not just one, but all three of these explosions.
As all of these explosions arise from stellar collapse, to understand one requires an understanding of the others. Stellar Collapse marks the first book to combine discussions of all three phenomena, focusing on the similarities and differences between them. Designed for graduate students and scientists newly entering this field, this book provides a review not only of these explosions, but the detailed physical models used to explain them from the numerical techniques used to model neutrino transport and gamma-ray transport to the detailed nuclear physics behind the evolution of the collapse to the observations that have led to these three classes of explosions.

Inhalt

Dedication. List of Figures. List of Tables. Contributing Authors. Preface. Foreword. 1. The Light Problem. 2. How I View the Present Problem. 3. Justification of this View. Acknowledgements. I: Core-Collapse Supernovae. Introduction; C.L. Fryer. 1: Massive Star Evolution; P.A. Young, D. Arnett. 1. Introduction. 2. Useful Concepts. 3. Formation and IMF. 4. Hydrogen Burning. 5. He Burning. 6. LBVs and Wolf-Rayets. 7. C and Ne Burning. 8. O and Si Burning. 9. Pop III Stars. 10. Supermassive Stars and Pair Instability. 11. Pre-Supernova State. 12. Modelling Issues. 13. Current Work. References. 2: Review on the Observed and Physical Properties of Core Collapse Supernovae; M. Hamuy. 1. Supernovae Classification. 2. The Properties of Core Collapse Supernovae. 3. Summary and Discussion. Acknowledgements. References. 3: Explosion Mechanisms of Massive Stars; H.-T. Janka, R. Buras, K. Kifonidis, M. Rampp, T. Plewa. 1. Introduction. 2. Observational Facts. 3. Theoretical Possibilities. 4. Do Neutrino-Driven Explosions Work? 5. A New Generation of Multi-Dimesional Supernova Simulations. 6. Conclusions and Outlook. Acknowledgements. References. 4: Neutrino Transport in Core Collapse Supernovae; A. Mezzacappa, M. Liebendörfer, C.Y. Cardall, O.E. Bronson Messer, S.W. Bruenn. 1. The Core Collapse Paradigm and the Role of Neutrino Transport. 2. Neutrino TransportPreliminaries. 3. A Brief History. 4. Neutrino Radiation Hydrodynamics Equations. 5. Finite Differencing of the Neutrino Transport Equations. 6. The General Case. 7. Neutrino Mass and Mixing. 8. Conclusion. Acknowledgements. References. 5: Neutrino-Matter Interaction Rates in Supernovae; A. Burrows, T.A. Thompson. 1. Introduction. 2. Stimulated Absorption. 3. Neutrino Cross Sections. 4. Inelastic Neutrino Scattering. 5. Dynamic Structure Factors for Neutrino-Nucleon Interactions. 6. e+e- Annihilation. 7. vivi Annihilation. 8. Nucleon-Nucleon Bremsstrahlung. 9. Conclusion. Acknowledgements. References. 6: Protoneutron Star Winds; T.A. Thompson. 1. Introduction. 2. Hydrodynamics. 3. Particulars of Protoneutron Star Winds. 4. Results: Spherical Models. 5. Magnetic Protoneutron Star Winds. 6. Summary, Conclusions and Implications. Acknowledgements. References. II: Asymmetries in Collapse, Beyond the Basic Supernova Mechanism. Introduction; C.L. Fryer. 7: Radioactive Decay in Core Collapse Supernovae; A.L. Hungerford. 1. Supernova 1987A. 2. Cassiopeia A Supernova Remnant. 3. 3D &ggr;-Ray Simulations. 4. Conclusions. References. 8: Asymmetric Supernova Explosions; P. Höflich, L. Wang, A. Khokhlov. 1. Introduction. 2. Models for Collapse Supernovae. 3.