Merging white dwarfs and thermonuclear supernovae
Thermonuclear supernovae result when interaction with a companion reignites nuclear fusion in a carbonoxygen white dwarf, causing a thermonuclear runaway, a catastrophic gain in pressure and the disintegration of the whole white dwarf. It is usually thought that fusion is reignited in near-pycnonucl...
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| Published in | Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences Vol. 371; no. 1992; p. 20120236 |
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| Main Author | |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
England
The Royal Society Publishing
13.06.2013
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| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Thermonuclear supernovae result when interaction with a companion reignites nuclear fusion in a carbonoxygen white dwarf, causing a thermonuclear runaway, a catastrophic gain in pressure and the disintegration of the whole white dwarf. It is usually thought that fusion is reignited in near-pycnonuclear conditions when the white dwarf approaches the Chandrasekhar mass. I briefly describe two long-standing problems faced by this scenario, and the suggestion that these supernovae instead result from mergers of carbonoxygen white dwarfs, including those that produce sub-Chandrasekhar-mass remnants. I then turn to possible observational tests, in particular, those that test the absence or presence of electron captures during the burning. |
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| Bibliography: | ArticleID:rsta20120236 ark:/67375/V84-XSLTNPG3-X istex:13A7B243B47878011688234244001E982FE25ECC href:rsta20120236.pdf One contribution of 15 to a Discussion Meeting Issue New windows on transients across the Universe. Discussion Meeting Issue 'New windows on transients across the Universe' organized and edited by Paul O'Brien and Stephen Smartt ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 1364-503X 1471-2962 |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rsta.2012.0236 |