A Theory for Core-collapse Supernova Explosions

理论天体物理学的一个主要挑战是解释大质量恒星如何结束它们的生命。 大质量恒星的死亡，核心坍缩超新星（CCSNe），是宇宙中最具能量的爆炸之一;它们预示着中子星和黑洞的诞生，是中微子和引力波的巨大发射体，影响银河系流体动力学，触发进一步的星星形成，是核合成的主要场所。 虽然这些爆炸在许多宇宙现象中起着重要和多方面的作用，但几十年来爆炸机制的细节仍然难以捉摸。我们概述了一场理论运动，以加深我们对爆炸机制的理解。 目前的理论表明，非球面不稳定性是帮助成功爆炸的主要因素，但它们究竟如何帮助爆炸仍然不确定。 本建议的主要目标是确定哪些不稳定性是最相关的爆炸，发展的非线性不稳定性的理论，并将不稳定性理论纳入理论成功的爆炸。 全面发展这一理论框架需要分析理论和数值模拟。作为一个社会，我们面临着一个道德困境;近1%的美国人口被监禁在监狱里。 这是世界上最高的监禁率，更令人不安的是，贫困和少数民族社区在被监禁人口中所占比例过高。 造成这种不成比例的监禁率的原因很复杂，但一个促成因素是缺乏获得高质量教育的机会。 为了帮助解决这个问题，普林斯顿大学的教职员工和学生组成了普林斯顿监狱教学倡议（PTI）。 PTI的使命是“通过增加获得优秀中学后教育的机会，降低新泽西的监禁率。“在许多方面，PTI是一个巨大的成功，并被誉为全国其他项目的榜样。这些成功是令人鼓舞的，但为了确保这些学生过上富有成效的、没有犯罪的生活，我们必须利用我们掌握的一切工具来帮助他们超越期望。 为此，PI将前往普林斯顿，开发基于探究的教育技术，以提高已经成功的监狱教育计划的有效性。

A major challenge for theoretical astrophysics is to explain how massive stars end their lives. The death of massive stars, core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), are some of the most energetic explosions in the Universe; they herald the birth of neutron stars and black holes, are prodigious emitters of neutrinos and gravitational waves, influence galactic hydrodynamics, trigger further star formation, and are a major site for nucleosynthesis. Though these explosions play an important and multifaceted role in many cosmic phenomena, the details of the explosion mechanism have remained elusive for many decades.We outline a theoretical campaign to deepen our understanding of the mechanism of explosion. Current theory indicates that aspherical instabilities are a major ingredient in aiding successful explosions, but exactly how they aide the explosion remains uncertain. The main objectives of this proposal are to identify which instabilities are most relevant for the explosion, develop a theory for the nonlinear instabilities, and incorporate the instability theory into a theory for successful explosions. Fully developing this theoretical framework will require both analytic theory and numerical simulations.As a society, we face a moral dilemma; nearly 1% of the U.S. population is incarcerated in prison. This is the highest incarceration rate in the world, and even more troubling is the fact that poor and minority communities make up a disproportionately large fraction of the incarcerated population. The reasons for these disproportionate incarceration rates are complex, but one contributing factor is a lack of access to high-quality education. To help address this problem, members of the Princeton University faculty, staff, and students have formed the Princeton Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI). The mission of the PTI is to "reduce the incarceration rates in New Jersey by increasing access to outstanding post-secondary education." In many ways, the PTI is a great success, and is lauded as a role-model for other programs across the nation. These successes are encouraging, but to ensure that these students live productive, crime-free lives, we must use all tools at our disposal to help them exceed expectations. To this end, the PI will travel to Princeton and develop inquiry-based educational techniques to improve the effectiveness of an already successful prison education program.