2004/05/07 by A. C. Calder, Calder, A. C., T. Plewa +8
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0405162
11 pages, 4 figures, some figures degraded to reduce size. Submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters
arxiv created 2004/05/07 · openalex publication_date 2004/05/07 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present the first high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of the deflagration phase of Type Ia supernovae that treat the entire massive white dwarf. We report the results of simulations in which ignition of the nuclear burning occurs slightly off-center. The subsequent evolution of the nuclear burning is surprisingly asymmetric with a growing bubble of hot ash rapidly rising to the stellar surface. Upon reaching the surface, the mass of burned material is ≈ 0.075 M_\sun and the kinetic energy is 4.3 × 1049 ergs. The velocity of the top of the rising bubble approaches 8000 km s-1. The amount of the asymmetry found in the model offers a natural explanation for the observed diversity in Type Ia supernovae. Our study strongly disfavors the classic central-ignition pure deflagration scenario by showing that the result is highly sensitive to details of the initial conditions.