Magneto-Hydrodynamical Effects on Nuclear Deflagration Fronts in Type Ia Supernovae

Abstract

This article presents the study of the effects of magnetic fields on non-distributed nuclear burning fronts as a possible solution to a fundamental problem for the thermonuclear explosion of a Chandrasekhar mass ($M_{Ch}$) white dwarf (WD), the currently favored scenario for the majority of Type Ia SNe (SNe~Ia). All existing 3D hydrodynamical simulations predict strong global mixing of the burning products due to Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities, which is in contradiction with observations. As a first step and to study the flame physics we present a set of computational magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) models in rectangular flux tubes, resembling a small inner region of a WD. We consider initial magnetic fields up to $10^{12}\mathrm{G}$ of various orientations. We find an increasing suppression of RT instabilities starting at about $10^9\mathrm{G}$. The front speed tends to decrease with increasing magnitude up to about $10^{11}\mathrm{G}$. For even higher fields new small scale finger-like structures develop, which increase the burning speed by a factor of 3 to 4 above the field-free RT-dominated regime. We suggest that the new instability may provide sufficiently accelerated energy production during the distributed burning regime to go over the Chapman-Jougey limit and trigger a detonation. Finally we discuss the possible origins of high magnetic fields during the final stage of the progenitor evolution or the explosion.

Accepted by ApJ

References in corpus (22)

• The Statistics of Supersonic Isothermal Turbulence
• The type Ia supernova SNLS-03D3bb from a super-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf star
• Magnetic White Dwarfs
• Simulations of nonhelical hydromagnetic turbulence
• Double-detonation sub-Chandrasekhar supernovae: synthetic observables for minimum helium shell mass models
• Laboratory evidence of dynamo amplification of magnetic fields in a turbulent plasma
• Spectropolarimetric Survey of Hydrogen-rich White Dwarf Stars
• The Magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in Three Dimensions
• Spectral Identification of an Ancient Supernova using Light Echoes in the LMC
• Light and color curve properties of type Ia supernovae: Theory vs. Observations
• Asymmetric Explosion of Type Ia Supernovae as Seen from Near Infrared Observations
• Detonating Failed Deflagration Model of Thermonuclear Supernovae I. Explosion Dynamics
• The Chemical Distribution in a Subluminous Type Ia Supernova: HST Images of the SN 1885 Remnant
• A Simple and Accurate Riemann Solver for Isothermal MHD
• Thermonuclear Supernovae: Probing Magnetic Fields by Late-Time IR Line Profiles
• Magnetized Moving Mesh Merger of a Carbon-Oxygen White Dwarf Binary
• Late-time near-infrared observations of SN 2005df
• Extremely late photometry of SN~2011fe
• Rayleigh-Taylor Unstable Flames -- Fast or Faster?
• The 2D Distribution of Iron Rich Ejecta in the Remnant of SN 1885 in M31
• Interstellar-Medium Mapping in M82 Through Light Echoes Around Supernova 2014J
• Effects of magnetic fields in white dwarfs

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Carnegie Supernova Project-II: The Near-infrared Spectroscopy Program
• On the Ca-strong 1991bg-like type Ia supernova 2016hnk: evidence for a Chandrasekhar-mass explosion
• The Young and Nearby Normal Type Ia Supernova 2018gv: UV-Optical Observations and the Earliest Spectropolarimetry
• Models for Type Ia supernovae and related astrophysical transients
• Near-infrared spectral evolution of the Type Ia supernova 2014J in the nebular phase: implications for the progenitor system
• JWST Low-Resolution MIRI Spectral Observations of SN~2021aefx: High-density Burning in a Type Ia Supernova
• Measuring an off-Center Detonation through Infrared Line Profiles: The peculiar Type Ia Supernova SN~2020qxp/ASASSN-20jq
• ASASSN-15hy: an under-luminous, red 03fg-like type Ia supernova
• A Physical Basis for the H-band Blue-edge Velocity and Light-Curve Shape Correlation in Context of Type Ia Supernova Explosion Physics
• Physics of Thermonuclear Explosions: Magnetic Field Effects on Deflagration Fronts and Observable Consequences
• Multidimensional Simulations of Core Convection
• Rayleigh-Taylor unstable flames at higher Reynolds number
• Near-infrared and Optical Nebular-phase Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae SN 2013aa and SN 2017cbv in NGC 5643
• Bump Morphology of the CMAGIC Diagram
• Galactic Positrons from Thermonuclear Supernovae
• White dwarf -- red giant star binaries as Type Ia supernova progenitors: with and without magnetic confinement
• Deep Neural Networks for Modeling Astrophysical Nuclear Reacting Flows
• Rayleigh-Taylor Unstable Flames: the Effect of Two-Mode Coupling