Asymmetric Supernovae from Magnetocentrifugal Jets

By J. C. Wheeler, David L. Meier, James R. Wilson. 2001

140 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Strong toroidal magnetic fields generated in stellar collapse can generate magnetocentrifugal jets in analogy to those found in simulations of black hole accretion. Magnetocentrifugal jets may explain why all core collapse supernovae are found to be substantially asymmetric and predominantly bipolar. We describe two phases: the initial LeBlanc-Wilson jet and a subsequent protopulsar or toroidal jet that propagates at about the core escape velocity. The prompt LeBlanc-Wilson jets will produce an excess of neutron-rich matter and hence cannot be the common origin of supernova explosions; similar but less severe problems arise with the protopulsar jet that may be alleviated by partial evacuation along the axis by rotation. The jets will produce bow shocks that tend to expel matter, including iron and silicon, into equatorial tori. This may help to account for observations of the element distribution in Cas A. A magnetic "switch" mechanism may apply in rare instances (when there is low density and large magnetic field), with subsequent increase in the speed and collimation of the toroidal jet. The conditions that turn the magnetic switch "on" would yield a jet that propagates rapidly and with small opening angle through the star, depositing relatively little momentum. The result could be enough infall to form a black hole. A third, highly relativistic jet from the rotating black hole could catch up to the protopulsar jet after it has emerged from the star. The interaction of these two jets plausibly could be the origin of the internal shocks thought to produce γ-ray bursts and could explain the presence of iron lines in the afterglow. Recent estimates that typical γ-ray burst energy is ~3 × 1050 ergs imply either a very low efficiency for conversion of rotation into jets by the Blandford-Znajek mechanism or a rather rapid turnoff of the jet process even though the black hole still rotates rapidly. Magnetars and "hypernovae" might arise in an intermediate parameter regime of energetic jets that yield larger magnetic fields and provide more energy than the routine case, but that are not so tightly collimated that they yield failed supernova.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4b1aa18aa9eb0132090e5d2f22ad384212a0e523

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Citations in the corpus

The Magnetorotational Instability in Core-Collapse Supernova Explosions (2002, background): “Wheeler et al. (2002) discussed jet formation in the context of magnetorotational core-collapse supernovae, but based only on the linear wrapping of field lines.”
Simulations of Magnetically Driven Supernova and Hypernova Explosions in the Context of Rapid Rotation (2007, background): “…of asphericity in the generic supernova (Wang et al. 2002, 2003), theMHDmechanism is experiencing a comeback (Ardeljan et al. 2000a, 2000b, 2005; Wheeler et al. 2000, 2002; Akiyama et al. 2003; Yamada & Sawai 2004; Kotake et al. 2004; Mizuno et al. 2004; Takiwaki et al. 2004; Akiyama & Wheeler…”
Supernova remnants: the X-ray perspective (2011, background): “This raises the possibility that also more normal core collapse supernovae have jet components (Wheeler et al., 2002).”
Spectropolarimetry of Supernovae (2008, unknown): “J., in press Wheeler et al.(2002)Wheeler, J. C., Meier, D. L., & Wilson, J. R. 2002, Ap.”
The Axisymmetric Ejecta of Supernova 1987A (2002, background): “Possible mechanisms of jet formation during the collapse to form a neutron star have been discussed recently (Wheeler et al. 2000, 2002; Akiyama et al. 2002) as have asymmetries associated with neutrino flow (Shimizu, Yamada, & Sato 1994; Shimizu et al. 2001; Fryer & Heger 2000).”
Multidimensional supernova simulations with approximative neutrino transport. I. Neutron star kicks and the anisotropy of neutrino-driven explosions in two spatial dimensions (2006, background): “…large pre-collapse perturbations in the iron core (Burrows & Hayes 1996; Goldreich et al. 1996; Lai & Goldreich 2000), strong magnetic fields (Wheeler et al. 2002; Kotake et al. 2004), anisotropic neutrino emission associated with exotic neutrino properties (e.g. Fryer & Kusenko 2006; Fuller…”
MAGNETOROTATIONAL CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE IN THREE DIMENSIONS (2014, background): “One possible alternative is the magnetorotational mechanism (e.g. Bisnovatyi-Kogan 1970; LeBlanc & Wilson 1970; Meier et al. 1976; Wheeler et al. 2002).”
Stellar evolution with rotation - XIII. Predicted GRB rates at various Z (2005, background): “Three current scenarios (Woosley & Heger 2003) for GRB production are the supranovae model (Vietri & Stella 1999), the magnetar model (Wheeler et al. 2002), and the collapsar mechanism (Woosley 1993).”
Neutrino-dominated Accretion and Supernovae (2005, background): “Of course, a fraction of the jet energy may contribute to reenergizing the stalled shock (Wheeler et al. 2002) and may assist the disk outflow in producing the explosion.”