Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
5-2023
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Physics
Major Professor
William Hix
Committee Members
Bronson Messer, Michael Guidry, Timothy Schulze
Abstract
Type Ia supernovae are thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs (WD), electron-degenerate cores of old intermediate mass stars(under 8$M_{\odot}$). Reaching energies of $10^{51}$\si{\erg}, they outshine whole galaxies as they synthesize and distribute most of the iron group elements (IGE; V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) into the interstellar medium, thus being one of the main agents in cosmic chemical evolution. Also, given their notably homogeneous lightcurves, they form the last step in the cosmic distance ladder outdistancing Cepheid variables by orders of magnitude. Though calibration of said lightcurves is dependent on a high number of confirmed events, the limits of statistical significance are already being reached, causing systematics to govern errors. It is in this regard that theoretical estimations of intrinsic brightness and chemical yields can impact the astrophysical use of these standarizable candles. Though there are several possible progenitor scenarios, one of the mechanisms of explosion that has regained a measure of attention is the sub-Chandrasekhar mass Scenario (subCh): a sub-Chandrasekhar mass (under 1.4$M_{\odot}$) carbon-oxygen core accretes helium from a binary companion until helium burning temperatures are reached, causing a thermonuclear runaway after ignition. It is the goal of this thesis to further investigate the constraints and ranges of this type of mechanism through 3D hydrodynamic simulations with improved nuclear kinetics via large networks.
Recommended Citation
Rivas, Fernando Hernan, "Sub-Chandrasekhar type Ia supernovae scenarios with increased pathways for neutronization. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2023.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/8178