Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs that serve as pivotal standardizable candles in cosmology. While their role in cosmic distance determination is well-established, long-standing questions regarding their stellar progenitors and explosion mechanisms persist. In this talk, I will present recent multidimensional simulations of leading SNe Ia channels, and show how these naturally give rise to both normal brightness as well as subluminous failed detonation events. Furthermore, I'll elucidate how a range of observational data, from transient optical light curves and X-ray observations of supernova remnants to the 511 keV Galactic positron annihilation emission, can all be employed to constrain the origin of SNe Ia.