Astro Seminar
Core-Collapse Supernovae: Connecting Models and Observations in 3D
Speaker: Hans-Thomas Janka (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching)
Date: Wednesday 12 March 2025
Time: 11:00
Venue: N3.23
The lives of massive stars are terminated by a final catastrophic collapse to a neutron star or black hole, which can be accompanied by a supernova explosion. These events play a crucial role for the dynamical evolution and the chemical enrichment history of galaxies, as cosmic laboratories for particle and nuclear physics, and as sources of electromagnetic radiation, neutrinos, and gravitational waves including those currently measured from colliding compact objects in binaries. The theory of stellar core collapse has made tremendous progress over the past 15 years through advancing the numerical modeling to three dimensions. Modern computer simulations of the highly complex processes in dying stars support the long-standing paradigm that energy transfer by neutrinos triggers and powers the far majority of supernova explosions. 3D model predictions begin to yield explanations for observed phenomena, and detailed observations of supernovae and their remnants can help to further consolidate the theory. But also new questions arise, for example when the neutrinos measured from Supernova 1987A are analysed in the light of modern models. The talk will introduce the basic theory, describe the forefront of current research, and highlight some topics where supernova theory is linked to astronomy, particle physics, and nuclear physics.