Thermonuclear Supernovae: Geometry as the Rosetta Stone of Explosions and Progenitors, with Implications for Precision Cosmology

Ia型超新星（SN）在测量宇宙的加速膨胀中起着至关重要的作用，产生了宇宙中一半的重金属，并帮助天文学家研究宇宙学和基础物理学的许多方面。虽然这种类型的超新星被认为与一颗致密白矮星的爆炸有关，但Ia型SNe的变化有很大的多样性，天体物理学家已经开发出了更大多样性的爆炸场景。佛罗里达州立大学（FSU）的一个研究小组将把詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜（JWST）和地面高节奏光谱偏振仪的新观测结果纳入新的理论模型，以捕捉Ia型超新星爆炸的几何形状。这是第一次有可能获得超新星Ia的全三维图像，通过结合多信使和时间域观测从爆炸数天到数年，几何形状是敏感的伴星和星周环境，点火和火焰传播的物理，和模型作出新的和清晰的新的定性和定量预测。超新星和宇宙学抓住了公众的想象力，推动了前沿科学的发展。FSU天文馆提供了一个理想的平台，以提高公众对SNe中化学元素的生产及其对人类生活各个方面的影响的好奇心。一个中心目标是解释研究如何通过试错、模型和实验测试等取得进展。听众是FSU新生和初高中学生、教育工作者和公众。主讲人将是主要研究者，他的学生和博士后研究员。该项目的主要目标是了解爆炸物理和祖系统在膨胀包络层上的独特几何印记。一个重要的导数将是亮度的方向依赖性，这是精确宇宙学所需要的。该研究充分利用了时域和多信使天文学结合全多维非局域热平衡辐射输运的方法，而不是传统的球面平均方法。这样，就可以利用线轮廓的极化和不对称所传递的信息。与不加选择地覆盖由中等质量数据填充的巨大参数空间不同，该项目将基于最佳可用数据绘制通往新技术模拟的路径，即少数具有多信使数据的SNe Ia加上正在进行的JWST和地面高节奏光谱偏振计程序的两个特定SNe Ia。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Type Ia supernovae (SN) play an essential role in measuring the accelerating expansion of the Universe, produce half of the Universe’s heavy metals, and help astronomers to study cosmology and many aspects of fundamental physics. Although this type of supernova is known to involve the explosion of a compact white dwarf star, there is an enormous diversity of variations of Type Ia SNe, and astrophysicists have developed an even large diversity of explosion scenarios. A research team at Florida State University (FSU) will incorporate new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and ground-based high-cadence spectropolarimetry programs into new theoretical models that capture the geometry of Type Ia SNe explosions. For the first time, it is possible to obtain the full 3-D image of SNe Ia by combining multi-messenger and time-domain observations from days to years after the explosion Geometry is sensitive to the companion star and the circumstellar environment, the physics of the ignition and flame propagation, and models make new and clear new qualitative and quantitative predictions. Supernovae and cosmology capture the public imagination and drive forefront science. The FSU planetarium provides an ideal platform to raise public curiosity about the production of chemical elements in SNe and their impact on every aspect of human life. A central objective is to explain how research makes progress through trial and error, models and experimental tests, etc. The audience are new FSU and middle- and high-school students, educators, and the public. The presenters will be the principal investigators, his students and the postdoctoral researcher.The primary goal of the project is to understand the unique geometrical imprints of the explosion physics and progenitor systems on the expanding envelope. An important derivative will be the directional dependence of the brightness, which is needed for precision cosmology. This study makes full use of time-domain and multi-messenger astronomy combined with full multi-D non-local-thermal equilibirum radiation transport, instead of relying on the conventional approach of spherical averaging. In this way, the information conveyed by the polarization and asymmetry of line profiles can be exploited. Instead of indiscriminately covering the vast parameter space populated by medium-quality data, the project will map the path to a new state of the art of simulations based on the best available data, namely the few SNe Ia with extent multi-messenger data plus two specific SNe Ia with ongoing JWST and ground-based high-cadence spectropolarimetry programs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.