The mechanism of core-collapse supernovae and the ejection of heavy elements Original Research Article

We present here the first results of two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the neutrino-heating phase is the collapsed core of a 15 M⊙ star, where the neutrino transport is treated with a variable Eddington factor method for solving the Boltzmann transport equation, and the neutrino interactions include nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung, nucleon recoils and correlations, and weak-magnetism effects as well as direct interactions between neutrinos of different flavors. With the given input physics (neutrino reactions and nuclear equation of state), our best simulations do not develop strong convection in the neutrino-heating layer behind the shock and do not yield explosions. With about 30% higher neutrino-energy deposition behind the shock, however, an explosion occurs on a timescale of 150 ms after core bounce. It leaves behind a neutron star with an initial baryonic mass of 1.4 M⊙ and ejects the N = 50 isotopes of Sr, Y and Zr in amounts consistent with Galactic abundances.