Long-lived intermittent accretion disks in the jittering jets explosion mechanism (JJEM) of core-collapse supernovae

Abstract

Motivated by observations of core-collapse supernova (CCSN) remnants that suggest cases where one to three energetic pairs of jets dominate the CCSN remnant morphology and, hence, the CCSN explosion energy, I examine the formation of long-lived intermittent accretion disks that launch such pairs of energetic jets in the framework of the jittering-jets explosion mechanism (JJEM). In the JJEM, pairs of jets explode all CCSNe. In most CCSNe, stochastic angular momentum fluctuations in the convective zones of the pre-collapse core seed instabilities above the newly born neutron star that lead to the formation of intermittent accretion disks. These disks launch several to about twenty pairs of jets that explode the star. CCSNRs with signatures of 1-3 very energetic pairs of jets require long-lived, intermittent accretion disks. I quantitatively show that viscosity-driven angular momentum transport in the disk can prolong its lifetime even when material with zero angular momentum continues to feed the disk. Other effects that I do not study here can also prolong the disk lifetime somewhat: jets might prevent matter from accreting from the polar direction, and angular momentum fluctuations can, in some cases, add up to a positive angular momentum. The viscosity mechanism I study here, along with these other effects, can prolong the lifetime of 1-3 intermittent accretion disks (or none), which then launch energetic jet pairs. This study adds to the wide variety of morphologies that the JJEM can explain, somewhat supporting the claim that the JJEM is the primary explosion mechanism of CCSNe.