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Explosion Physics of Thermonuclear Supernovae and Their Signatures

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Handbook of Supernovae

Abstract

This article deals with the thermonuclear explosions of White Dwarf stars. The goal is to study the underlying principles which help to understand the interplay of often complex physics with the hydrodynamics of the explosion and the origin of the apparent homogeneity and diversity.

In the first part, we will discuss in a “nutshell” why basic physics leads to homogeneity and how it can be broken. What may lead to the differences between SNe Ia and SNe Iax? Why do we expect more than one scenario? How can we distinguish the alternatives by their signature? In the second part, we will show how the initial conditions and physics of flames influence the hydrodynamics of the explosion. Finally, the physical principles will be applied to the large zoo of explosion scenarios. We will evaluate the basic characteristics, range of solutions, and differences between them.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all my collaborators and colleagues for many fruitful discussions and the generous funding by the NSF and NASA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Peter Hoeflich

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  1. Peter Hoeflich
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Correspondence to Peter Hoeflich .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University College London Observatory, University College London, London, United Kingdom

    Athem W. Alsabti

  2. Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Paul Murdin

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Hoeflich, P. (2017). Explosion Physics of Thermonuclear Supernovae and Their Signatures. In: Alsabti, A., Murdin, P. (eds) Handbook of Supernovae. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21846-5_56

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