Thermal Runaway During the Evolution of ONeMg Cores towards Accretion-Induced Collapse

Abstract

We study the evolution of degenerate electron cores primarily composed of the carbon burning products oxygen, neon, and magnesium (hereafter ONeMg cores) that are undergoing compression. Electron capture reactions on A=20 and A=24 isotopes reduce the electron fraction and heat the core. We develop and use a new capability of the Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) stellar evolution code that provides a highly accurate implementation of these key reactions. These new accurate rates and the ability of MESA to perform extremely small spatial zoning demonstrates a thermal runaway in the core triggered by the temperature and density sensitivity of the Ne-20 electron capture reactions. Both analytics and numerics show that this thermal runaway does not trigger core convection, but rather leads to a centrally concentrated (r < km) thermal runaway that will subsequently launch an oxygen deflagration wave from the center of the star. We use MESA to perform a parameter study that quantifies the influence of the magnesium mass fraction, the central temperature, the compression rate, and uncertainties in the electron capture reaction rates on the ONeMg core evolution. This allows us to establish a lower limit on the central density at which the oxygen deflagration wave initiates of ${\rho }_c>8.5\times 10^9{\text{g cm}}^{-3}$. Based on previous work and order-of-magnitude calculations, we expect objects which ignite oxygen at or above these densities to collapse and form a neutron star. Calculations such as these are an important step in producing more realistic progenitor models for studies of the signature of accretion-induced collapse.

20 pages, 17 figures, 2 tables; published in MNRAS, updated to reflect published erratum

References in corpus (4)

• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• The Viscous Evolution of White Dwarf Merger Remnants
• On Carbon Burning in Super Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• Equation of state of classical Coulomb plasma mixtures

Cited by in corpus (72)

• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Binaries, Pulsations, and Explosions
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Time-Dependent Convection, Energy Conservation, Automatic Differentiation, and Infrastructure
• The progenitors of compact-object binaries: impact of metallicity, common envelope and natal kicks
• Merging black holes in young star clusters
• The Status of Multi-Dimensional Core-Collapse Supernova Models
• Double neutron stars: merger rates revisited
• New Insights into Classical Novae
• Super-AGB Stars and their role as Electron Capture Supernova progenitors
• Fast Radio Bursts from Magnetars Born in Binary Neutron Star Mergers and Accretion Induced Collapse
• Do electron-capture supernovae make neutron stars? First multidimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the oxygen deflagration
• Exploring the Potential Diversity of Early Type Ia Supernova Light Curves
• The origin of the first neutron star -- neutron star merger
• The Evolution and Fate of Super-Chandrasekhar Mass White Dwarf Merger Remnants
• The impact of electron-capture supernovae on merging double neutron stars
• Revising natal kick prescriptions in population synthesis simulations
• Light-curve and spectral properties of ultra-stripped core-collapse supernovae leading to binary neutron stars
• Remnants and ejecta of thermonuclear electron-capture supernovae: Constraining oxygen-neon deflagrations in high-density white dwarfs
• He-accreting carbon-oxygen white dwarfs and type Ia supernovae
• Partly burnt runaway stellar remnants from peculiar thermonuclear supernovae
• Dynamical Formation Channels for Fast Radio Bursts in Globular Clusters
• The formation of neutron star systems through accretion-induced collapse in white-dwarf binaries
• Evolution of ONeMg Core in Super-AGB Stars towards Electron-Capture Supernovae: Effects of Updated Electron-Capture Rate
• Discovery of an Exceptionally Strong $\beta$-Decay Transition of ${}^{20}$F and Implications for the Fate of Intermediate-Mass Stars
• Carbon Shell or Core Ignitions in White Dwarfs Accreting from Helium Stars
• Electron Capture Supernovae of Super-AGB Stars: Sensitivity on Input Physics
• Electron Capture Supernovae From Close Binary Systems
• Wind-accreting Symbiotic X-ray Binaries
• The Importance of Urca-process Cooling in Accreting ONe White Dwarfs
• The Evolution towards Electron-capture Supernovae: the Flame Propagation and the Pre-bounce Electron-neutrino Radiation
• Accretion-Induced Collapse From Helium Star + White Dwarf Binaries
• Stellar Binaries That Survive Supernovae
• Can a Single Population Account for the Discriminant Properties in Fast Radio Bursts?
• Magnetars from Neutron Star--White Dwarf Mergers: Application to Fast Radio Bursts
• Neutronization During Carbon Simmering In Type Ia Supernova Progenitors
• A statistical view on stable and unstable Roche lobe overflow of a tertiary star onto the inner binary in triple systems
• Convection Destroys the Core/Mantle Structure in Hybrid C/O/Ne White Dwarfs
• Theoretical prediction of presupernova neutrinos and their detection
• Prospects for Detecting Fast Radio Bursts in Globular Clusters of Nearby Galaxies
• Dispersion and Rotation Measures from the Ejecta of Compact Binary Mergers: Clue to the Progenitors of Fast Radio Bursts
• Constraining The Single-Degenerate Channel of Type Ia Supernovae With Stable Iron-Group Elements in SNR 3C 397
• The formation of single neutron-stars from double white-dwarf mergers via accretion-induced collapse
• Gravitational waves from mountains in newly born millisecond magnetars
• Measurement of the $2^{+}\to 0^{+}$ ground-state transition in the $\beta$ decay of ${}^{20}$F
• Case A and B evolution towards electron capture supernova
• Radio Pulsars
• Evolving ONe WD+He star systems to intermediate-mass binary pulsars
• The single-degenerate model for the progenitors of accretion-induced collapse events
• Electron Captures on ${}^{14}\mathrm{N}$ as a Trigger for Helium Shell Detonations
• Optical and radio transients after the collapse of super-Chandrasekhar white dwarf merger remnants
• The outcomes of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs accreting CO-rich material
• Accretion-Induced Collapse of Dark Matter Admixed White Dwarfs -- I: Formation of Low-mass Neutron Stars
• Accreting CO material onto ONe white dwarfs towards accretion-induced collapse
• Type Ia supernovae from non-accreting progenitors
• Residual Carbon in Oxygen-Neon White Dwarfs and its Implications for Accretion-Induced Collapse
• Fast and Luminous Transients from the Explosions of Long Lived Massive White Dwarf Merger Remnants
• Nuclear Weak Rates and Nuclear Weak Processes in Stars
• HD 49798: Its History of Binary Interaction and Future Evolution
• Lower-mass-gap Black Holes in Dense Star Clusters
• The Equation of State of Neutron-Rich Matter at Fourth Order of Chiral Effective Field Theory and the Radius of a Medium-Mass Neutron Star
• The formation of type Ia supernovae from carbon-oxygen-silicon white dwarfs
• Cooling Models for the Most Massive White Dwarfs
• Probing the efficiency of tidal synchronization in outspiralling double white dwarf binaries with LISA
• Gravitational Waves from Newborn Accreting Millisecond Magnetars
• Black Dwarf Supernova in the Far Future
• Single Millisecond Pulsars from Dynamical Interaction Processes in Dense Star Clusters
• Testing the formation scenarios of binary neutron star systems with measurements of the neutron star moment of inertia
• The Formation of Electron-capture Supernovae: A Review
• Laminar Flame Speeds in Degenerate Oxygen-Neon Mixtures
• He-shell flashes on the surface of oxygen-neon white dwarfs
• Forbidden electron capture on ${}^{24}$Na and ${}^{27}$Al in degenerate oxygen-neon cores
• Drawing the line between explosion and collapse in electron-capture supernovae -- I. Impact of conductive flame speeds and ignition conditions on the explosion mechanism
• Towards an Experimental Determination of the Transition Strength Between the Ground States of ${}^{20}$F and ${}^{20}$Ne