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Thermonuclear Supernovae: Combining Astrophysical and Terrestrial Combustion

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New Developments in Computational Fluid Dynamics
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Summary

This paper describes how numerical simulations of laboratory-scale experiments can be used to learn about the physics of supernova explosions. Simulations of shock-flame interactions that occur in a laboratory shock-tube experiment are used to study relevant physical mechanisms of the transition of a deflagration to a detonation. Then simulations of the deflagration stage of a Type Ia thermonuclear supernovae are performed to evaluate whether a deflagration alone is enough to account for astronomical observations. The conclusion is that the deflagration model alone is inadequate energetically, so there must be a transition to a detonation.

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© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Oran, E.S. (2005). Thermonuclear Supernovae: Combining Astrophysical and Terrestrial Combustion. In: Fujii, K., Nakahashi, K., Obayashi, S., Komurasaki, S. (eds) New Developments in Computational Fluid Dynamics. Notes on Numerical Fluid Mechanics and Multidisciplinary Design (NNFM), vol 90. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31261-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31261-7_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-27407-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31261-1

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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