TITLE: Exploring the asymmetry of core-collapse supernovae

SPEAKER: Professor John Blondin,

TIME: Thursday Nov. 2, 2006 at 4:00 PM

PLACE: George P. Williams, Jr. Lecture Hall, (Olin 101)

Modern astronomical observations are revealing a Universe of stellar objects that are dramatically asymmetric and time-dependent. A particularly energetic example is a core-collapse supernovae, where the death of a massive star generates a blastwave of 10⁴⁴ Joules that propagates out through the surrounding interstellar medium for several thousand years. Using large-scale computer simulations, we will examine several examples where dynamical instability and/or turbulent processes dramatically alter the evolution of supernovae and their remnants. Unexpected results from these multidimensional simulations include the spinning up of pulsars via shocked accretion flow and the formation of 'jets' in otherwise spherical explosions.

100 Olin Physical Laboratory, 7507 Reynolda Station Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7507 Phone: (336) 758-5337, FAX: (336) 758-6142 E-mail: wfuphys@wfu.edu	Quick Links Academics Research People Colloquia Info Physics