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We present a simple criterion to predict the explodability of massive stars based on the density and entropy profiles before collapse. If a pronounced density jump is present near the Si/Si-O interface, the star will likely explode. We…
We study the physics behind the neutrino-driven mechanism for gamma-ray bursts and hypernovae, deriving the critical density at which these outbursts occur in the collapsar model. The agreement between this derivation and results from past…
Under the hypothesis that some fraction of massive stellar core collapses give rise to unusually energetic events, termed hypernovae, I examine the required rates assuming some fraction of such events yield gamma ray bursts. I then discuss…
Massive stars live fast and die young. They shine furiously for a few million years, during which time they synthesize most of the heavy elements in the universe in their cores. They end by blowing themselves up in a powerful explosion…
The results of recent multi-dimensional simulations of type-II supernovae are reviewed. They show that convective instabilities in the collapsed stellar core might play an important role already during the first second after the formation…
When a star undergoes core collapse, a vast amount of energy is released in a ~10 s long burst of neutrinos of all species. Inverse beta decay in the star's hydrogen envelope causes an electromagnetic cascade which ultimately results in a…
The neutrino burst from a core-collapse supernova can provide information about the star explosion mechanism and the mechanisms of proto neutron star cooling but also about the intrinsic properties of the neutrino such as flavor…
The overwhelming evidence that the core collapse supernova mechanism is inherently multidimensional, the complexity of the physical processes involved, and the increasing evidence from simulations that the explosion is marginal presents…
New facilities to measure neutrino-nucleus cross sections, such as those possible in conjunction with spallation neutron sources, could provide an experimental foundation for the many neutrino-nucleus weak interaction rates needed in…
A core-collapse supernova might produce large amplitude gravitational waves if, through the collapse process, the inner core can aquire enough rotational energy to become dynamically unstable. In this report I present the results of 3-D…
It is understood in a general sense that turbulent fluid motion below the shock front in a core-collapse supernova stiffens the effective equation of state of the fluid and aids in the revival of the explosion. However, when one wishes to…
The quest for the supernova explosion mechanism has been one of the outstanding challenges in computational astrophysics for several decades. Simulations have now progressed to a stage at which the solution appears close and neutrino and…
Neutrino-matter cross sections and interaction rates are central to the core-collapse supernova phenomenon and, very likely, to the viability of the explosion mechanism itself. In this paper, we describe the major neutrino scattering,…
A star's ability to explode in a core-collapse supernova is correlated with its density profile, $\rho(r)$, such that compact stars with shallow density profiles preferentially ``fail'' and produce black holes. This correlation can be…
The most important weak nuclear interaction to the dynamics of stellar core collapse is electron capture, primarily on nuclei with masses larger than 60. In prior simulations of core collapse, electron capture on these nuclei has been…
Cosmological explosions such as core-collapse supernovae (SNe) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are thought to be powered by the rapid conversion of roughly a solar mass' worth of gravitational binding energy into a comparatively small amount of…
Here we present the results from two sets of simulations, in two and three spatial dimensions. In two dimensions, the simulations include multifrequency flux-limited diffusion neutrino transport in the "ray-by-ray-plus" approximation,…
It is now clear that a subset of supernovae display evidence for jets and are observed as gamma-ray bursts. The angular momentum distribution of massive stellar endpoints provides a rare means of constraining the nature of the central…
We explore the energy and entropy transport as well as the lepton number variation induced from the mixing between electron and sterile neutrinos with keV mass in the supernova core. We develop a radial- and time-dependent treatment of the…
The current picture of the collapse and explosion of massive stars and the formation of neutron stars is reviewed. According to the favored scenario, however by no means proven and undisputed, neutrinos deposit the energy of the explosion…