No Arabic abstract
We construct the equation of state (EOS) of dense matter covering a wide range of temperature, proton fraction, and density for the use of core-collapse supernova simulations. The study is based on the relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory, which can provide an excellent description of nuclear matter and finite nuclei. The Thomas--Fermi approximation in combination with assumed nucleon distribution functions and a free energy minimization is adopted to describe the non-uniform matter, which is composed of a lattice of heavy nuclei. We treat the uniform matter and non-uniform matter consistently using the same RMF theory. We present two sets of EOS tables, namely EOS2 and EOS3. EOS2 is an update of our earlier work published in 1998 (EOS1), where only the nucleon degree of freedom is taken into account. EOS3 includes additional contributions from $Lambda$ hyperons. The effect of $Lambda$ hyperons on the EOS is negligible in the low-temperature and low-density region, whereas it tends to soften the EOS at high density. In comparison with EOS1, EOS2 and EOS3 have an improved design of ranges and grids, which covers the temperature range $T=0.1$--$10^{2.6}$ MeV with the logarithmic grid spacing $Delta log_{10}(T/rm{[MeV]})=0.04$ (92 points including T=0), the proton fraction range $Y_p=0$--0.65 with the linear grid spacing $Delta Y_p = 0.01$ (66 points), and the density range $rho_B=10^{5.1}$--$10^{16},rm{g,cm^{-3}}$ with the logarithmic grid spacing $Delta log_{10}(rho_B/rm{[g,cm^{-3}]}) = 0.1$ (110 points).
We study the impact of neutrino-pair production from the de-excitation of highly excited heavy nuclei on core-collapse supernova simulations, following the evolution up to several 100 ms after core bounce. Our study is based on the AGILE-Boltztran supernova code, which features general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics and accurate three-flavor Boltzmann neutrino transport in spherical symmetry. In our simulations the nuclear de-excitation process is described in two different ways. At first we follow the approach proposed by Fuller and Meyer [Astrophys. J. 376,701 (1991)], which is based on strength functions derived in the framework of the nuclear Fermi-gas model of non-interacting nucleons. Secondly, we parametrize the allowed and forbidden strength distributions in accordance with measurements for selected nuclear ground states. We determine the de-excitation strength by applying the Brink hypothesis and detailed balance. For both approaches, we find that nuclear de-excitation has no effect on the supernova dynamics. However, we find that nuclear de-excitation is the leading source for the production of electron antineutrinos as well as heavy-lepton flavor (anti)neutrinos during the collapse phase. At sufficiently high densities, the associated neutrino spectra are influenced by interactions with the surrounding matter, making proper simulations of neutrino transport important for the determination of the neutrino-energy loss rate. We find that even including nuclear de-excitations, the energy loss during the collapse phase is overwhelmingly dominated by electron neutrinos produced by electron captures.
In this work we present a detailed explanation of the construction of an appropriate equation of state (EoS) for nuclear astrophysics. We use a relativistic model in order to obtain an EoS for neutrally charged matter that extends from very low to high densities, from zero temperature to 100 MeV with proton fractions ranging from 0 (no protons) to 0.6 (asymmetric matter with proton excess). For the achievement of complete convergence, the Sommerfeld approximation is used at low temperatures and the Boltzman distribution for relativistic particles is used in the calculation of the electron properties at very low densities. Photons are also incorporated as blackbody radiation. An extension of this EoS is also presented with the inclusion of strangeness by taking into account the sigma minus hyperon only. Strangeness fractions range from 0.02 to 0.3.
Uncertainties in our knowledge of the properties of dense matter near and above nuclear saturation density are among the main sources of variations in multi-messenger signatures predicted for core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and the properties of neutron stars (NSs). We construct 97 new finite-temperature equations of state (EOSs) of dense matter that obey current experimental, observational, and theoretical constraints and discuss how systematic variations in the EOS parameters affect the properties of cold nonrotating NSs and the core collapse of a $20,M_odot$ progenitor star. The core collapse of the $20,M_odot$ progenitor star is simulated in spherical symmetry using the general-relativistic radiation-hydrodynamics code GR1D where neutrino interactions are computed for each EOS using the NuLib library. We conclude that the effective mass of nucleons at densities above nuclear saturation density is the largest source of uncertainty in the CCSN neutrino signal and dynamics even though it plays a subdominant role in most properties of cold NS matter. Meanwhile, changes in other observables affect the properties of cold NSs, while having little effect in CCSNe. To strengthen our conclusions, we perform six octant three-dimensional CCSN simulations varying the effective mass of nucleons at nuclear saturation density. We conclude that neutrino heating and, thus, the likelihood of explosion is significantly increased for EOSs where the effective mass of nucleons at nuclear saturation density is large.
In this review article we discuss selected developments regarding the role of the equation of state (EOS) in simulations of core-collapse supernovae. There are no first-principle calculations of the state of matter under supernova conditions since a wide range of conditions is covered, in terms of density, temperature and isospin asymmetry. Instead, model EOS are commonly employed in supernova studies. These can be divided into regimes with intrinsically different degrees of freedom: heavy nuclei at low temperatures, inhomogeneous nuclear matter where light and heavy nuclei coexist together with unbound nucleons, and the transition to homogeneous matter at high densities and temperatures. In this article we discuss each of these phases with particular view on their role in supernova simulations.
We investigate a method to construct parametrized progenitor models for core-collapse supernova simulations. Different from all modern core-collapse supernova studies, which rely on progenitor models from stellar evolution calculations, we follow the methodology of Baron & Cooperstein (1990) to construct initial models. Choosing parametrized spatial distributions of entropy and electron fraction as a function of mass coordinate and solving the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium, we obtain the initial density structures of our progenitor models. First, we calculate structures with parameters fitting broadly the evolutionary model s11.2 of Woosley et al. (2002). We then demonstrate the reliability of our method by performing general relativistic hydrodynamic simulations in spherical symmetry with the isotropic diffusion source approximation to solve the neutrino transport. Our comprehensive parameter study shows that initial models with a small central entropy ($lesssim 0.4,k_B$ nucleon$^{-1}$) can explode even in spherically symmetric simulations. Models with a large entropy ($gtrsim 6,k_B$ nucleon$^{-1}$) in the Si/O layer have a rather large explosion energy ($sim 4times 10^{50}$ erg) at the end of the simulations, which is still rapidly increasing.