Nonlinear growth of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities and mixing in SN 1987A

view Abstract Citations (141) References (26) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Nonlinear Growth of Rayleigh-Taylor Instabilities and Mixing in SN 1987A Hachisu, Izumi ; Matsuda, Takuya ; Nomoto, Ken'ichi ; Shigeyama, Toshikazu Abstract Optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray light curves of SN 1987A and broad emission lines of heavy elements strongly suggest the occurrence of large-scale mixing during the explosion. Using a two-dimensional hydrodynamic code, we have numerically demonstrated a nonlinear growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability in the ejecta of SN 1987A, which confirmed the linear stability analysis of Ebisuzaki, Shigeyama, and Nomoto and the two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulation of Arnett, Fryxell, and Muller 1989. After the blast shock breaks out of the helium core (~ 100 s after the explosion), a strong reverse shock forms behind the hydrogen/helium (H/He) interface and the R-T instability begins to largely grow at the H/He interface. Mushroom- like structures appear ~ 2000 s after the explosion. Eventually the core material (inside the carbon-oxygen layer) is mixed up to the layer having an expansion velocity of ~ 2200 km s^-1^ if the initial perturbation is as large as 5%. At the same time, hydrogen is mixed down to the core having an expansion velocity of ~ 800 km s^-1^. The core material is concentrated into the high-density fingers with a density contrast of a factor of 5-6. Thus, the mixing due to the R-T instabilities can reproduce most of the observational indication of mixing in SN 1987A. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: August 1990 DOI: 10. 1086/185779 Bibcode: 1990ApJ. . . 358L. . 57H Keywords: Emission Spectra; Light Curve; Stellar Spectra; Supernova 1987a; Taylor Instability; Magnetohydrodynamic Stability; Nonlinear Systems; Stellar Composition; Stellar Envelopes; Stellar Models; Astrophysics; HYDRODYNAMICS; STARS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: SN 1987A; STARS: SUPERNOVAE full text sources ADS | data products NED (2) SIMBAD (1)