Investigation of Neutrino-Driven Convection and the Core Collapse Supernova Mechanism Using Multigroup Neutrino Transport

Abstract

We investigate neutrino-driven convection in core collapse supernovae and its ramifications for the explosion mechanism, for a 15 solar mass model. Our two-dimensional simulation begins at 12 ms after bounce and proceeds for 500 ms. We couple two-dimensional PPM hydrodynamics to precalculated one-dimensional MGFLD neutrino transport. (The accuracy of this approximation is assessed.) For the moment we sacrifice dimensionality for realism in other aspects of our neutrino transport. MGFLD is an implementation of neutrino transport that simultaneously (a) is multigroup and (b) simulates with greater realism the transport of neutrinos in opaque, semitransparent, and transparent regions. Both are crucial to the accurate determination of postshock neutrino heating, which sensitively depends on the luminosities, spectra, and flux factors of the electron neutrinos and antineutrinos emerging from their respective neutrinospheres. By 212 ms after bounce, we see large-scale, neutrino-driven convection beneath the shock, characterized by higher-entropy, expanding upflows and denser, lower-entropy, finger-like downflows. The radial convection velocities at this time become supersonic just below the shock, reaching magnitudes in excess of 10^{9} cm/sec. Eventually, however, the shock recedes to smaller radii, and at 500 ms after bounce there is no evidence in our simulation of an explosion. While vigorous, neutrino-driven convection in our model does not have a significant impact on the overall shock dynamics. The differences between our results and those of other groups are considered. These most likely result from differences in (1) numerical hydrodynamics methods, (2) initial postbounce models, and most important, (3) neutrino transport approximations.