AlbaNova and Nordita colloquium

Recent Progress on Simulating the Explosive Death of Massive Stars 

Prof. Evan O'Connor (Stockholm University)

26 february 2025, 15:15 - The Oskar Klein auditorium (FR4)

Most massive stars end their lives in spectacular explosions known as core-collapse supernovae. These events shape the cosmos: they forge and disperse the elements essential for stars, planets, and life; they regulate galaxy evolution; and they give birth to neutron stars and black holes, linking stellar death to the gravitational-wave universe. Despite their importance, the physical mechanism that powers these explosions has long been one of the central unsolved problems in theoretical astrophysics. The first seconds after core collapse involve an intricate interplay of gravity, neutrino radiation, turbulence, and magnetic fields across a vast range of spatial and temporal scales. Capturing this multi-physics environment in a self-consistent framework has posed a long-standing computational challenge, but there are hints of light at the end of the tunnel. In this talk, I will present recent progress enabled by detailed 1D, 2D, and 3D neutrino-radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations of core-collapse supernovae. These simulations follow the last stages of evolution of massive stars, the collapse of the core, the emergence of hydrodynamic instabilities including neutrino-driven convection and turbulence, the onset of the explosion, and the post explosion evolution. In particular, I will highlight the progress we have made over the recent years in studying some of the most extreme core-collapse events including black hole and magnetar forming cases. Finally, I will outline implications for multimessenger astronomy, including predictions for neutrino and gravitational-wave signals, and highlight open challenges for the next generation of supernova simulations.