Publications

Convection and off-center ignition in type la supernovae

Wunsch, Scott E.; Woosley, S.E.

The turbulent convection that takes place in a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf during the final few minutes before it explodes determines where and how frequently it ignites. Numerical simulations have shown that the properties of the subsequent Type la supernova are sensitive to these ignition conditions. A heuristic model of the turbulent convection is explored. The results suggest that supernova ignition is likely to occur at a radius of order 100 km, rather than at the center of the star.