Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

ABSTRACT: Core-collapse supernovae are a puzzle that has taxed theorists and computational science for half a century. Such explosions, the source of much of the heavy elements in the Universe and the birthplace of neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes, are still not understood. However, using sophisticated numerical tools and platforms, theorists have been able to conduct multi-dimensional simulations with increasing physical fidelity that have provided insight into the variety of phenonoma that attend stellar death and explosion. The core of the emerging theoretical synthesis is the centrality of both hydrodynamic instability and of asphericity. In this talk, I will review the state of the field and the contending explosion models. In the process, I will highlight the computational astrophysics that has been applied to date, and that may be necessary in the future, to credibly unravel this mystery.