Deciphering Core Collapse Supernovae: Is Convection the Key? I. Prompt Convection

Abstract

We couple two-dimensional hydrodynamics to detailed one-dimensional multigroup flux-limited diffusion neutrino transport to investigate prompt convection in core collapse supernovae. Our initial conditions, time-dependent boundary conditions, and neutrino distributions for computing neutrino heating, cooling, and deleptonization rates are obtained from one-dimensional simulations that implement multigroup flux-limited diffusion neutrino transport and one-dimensional hydrodynamics. The development and evolution of prompt convection and its ramifications for the shock dynamics are investigated for both 15 and 25 solar mass models, representative of the two classes of stars with compact and extended iron cores, respectively. In the absence of neutrino transport, prompt convection develops and dissipates on a time scale $\sim$15 ms for both models. Prompt convection seeds convection behind the shock, which causes distortions in the shock's sphericity, but on the average, the shock radius is not boosted significantly. In the presence of neutrino transport, prompt convection velocities are too small relative to bulk inflow velocities to result in any significant convective transport of entropy and leptons. A simple analytical model supports our numerical results, indicating that the inclusion of transport reduces the convection growth rates and asymptotic velocities by factors of 4--250.