Explaining Peculiar Thermonuclear Supernovae

该奖项将支持对最近发现的具有不寻常特征的超新星进行理论研究。 新的调查正在挖掘出大量的各种类型的超新星，一些相对罕见的事件现在已经被彻底研究。 该项目的目标是看看这些超新星是否可以解释为热核超新星的结果，其中爆炸的白色矮星的总质量不一定等于最大允许质量。 PI将探索双简并合并、氦壳爆炸和吸积诱导的坍缩事件，并将光变曲线、光谱和偏振的观测结果与包含复杂辐射输运代码的模型输出进行比较。该项目将允许理论和观测之间的直接比较，这将有助于观测者解释新发现，并帮助建模者扎根于实际数据。 该小组还将组织一个关于高性能计算的暑期学校，将吸引50名学生。 学校的目标是让学生动手生产科学代码的经验，这将有助于产生下一代计算天体物理学家。

This award will support a theoretical investigation of recently-discovered supernovae with unusual characteristics. New surveys are digging up large numbers of supernovae of all types, and some relatively rare events have now been thoroughly studied. The goal of the project is to see if these supernovae can be explained as resulting from thermonuclear supernovae in which the total mass of the exploded white dwarf does not necessarily equal the maximum allowed (Chandraskehar) mass. The PI will explore double degenerate mergers, helium shell explosions, and accretion induced collapse events, and will compare observations of light curves, spectra, and polarization to the output of models that include sophisticated radiation transport codes.The project will allow direct comparisons between theory and observation, which will help observers explain new discoveries, and help modelers to stay rooted in actual data. This group will also organize a summer school on high-performance computing, which will draw 50 students. The goal of the school is to give students hands-on experience with production scientific codes, which will help produce the next generation of computational astrophysicists.