Two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations of the core helium flash are compared for times after convection has failed to contain the thermonuclear runaway. For a given set of initial conditions, it is found that in 2D the peak temperature is slightly higher and occurs earlier and that higher expansion velocities are obtained than in 3D. It is shown that the events after convection fails to contain the runaway can be well approximated by a 3D calculation initially in hydrostatic equilibrium with a large temperature perturbation in one zone. A 3D survey of the hydrodynamic phase is performed with this model.
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R. G. Deupree (1984) studied this question.