Clump Development by the Nickel Bubble Effect in Supernovae

Abstract

We used one-dimensional radiative-transport radiation hydrodynamical (RHD) simulations to investigate the formation of clumping in freely-expanding supernova ejecta due to the radioactive heating from the Ni56 -> Co56 -> Fe56 decay sequence. The heating gives rise to an inflated Nickel bubble, which induces a forward shock that compresses the outer ambient gas into a shell. The radiative energy deposited by the radioactivity leaks out across the shock by radiative diffusion, and we investigate its effect on the evolution of the ejecta structure. Compared to the hydrodynamical adiabatic approximation with gamma =4/3, the preshock gas becomes accelerated by the radiation outflow. The shock is thus weakened and the shell becomes broader and less dense. The thickness of the shell takes up <~ 4 % of the radius of the bubble, and the structure of the shell can be approximately described by a self-similar solution. We compared the properties of the shell components with those of the ejecta clumps indicated by our previous hydrodynamical simulations for the later interaction of clumps with the outer supernova remnant. The high density contrast across the shell, chi ~ 100, is compatible with that of ejecta clumps as indicated for Tycho's knots, but there is insufficient dense gas to cause a pronounced protrusion on the outline of a core collapse supernova remnant, like the bullets in the Vela remnant.

accepted by ApJ

References in corpus (4)

• Detailed Analysis of Early to Late-Time Spectra of Supernova 1993J
• Nucleosynthesis and Clump Formation in a Core Collapse Supernova
• Instabilities and Clumping in Type Ia Supernova Remnants
• Bullets in a Core Collapse Supernova Remnant: The Vela Remnant

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• An HST Survey of the Highest-Velocity Ejecta in Cassiopeia A
• Molecular nucleation theory of dust formation in core-collapse supernovae applied to SN 1987A
• A multi-wavelength look at the young plerionic supernova remnant 0540-69.3
• Stable nickel production in Type Ia supernovae: A smoking gun for the progenitor mass?
• Rayleigh-Taylor Instabilities in Type Ia Supernova Remnants undergoing Cosmic-Ray Particle Acceleration - Low Adiabatic Index Solutions