Effect of Electron Screening on the Collapsing Process of Core-Collapse Supernovae

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electron screening influences electron capture during core-collapse supernovae, revealing that it prolongs collapse, reduces bounce shock energy, and affects neutrino leakage, with implications for supernova modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a model incorporating electron screening effects into supernova collapse simulations, highlighting their significance at high densities.

Findings

Electron screening decreases electron capture rates at high densities.

Collapse timescales are extended due to screening effects.

Bounce shock energy is reduced because of electron screening.

Abstract

By using an average heavy nuclei model, the effects of the electron screening on electron capture (EC) in core-collapse supernovae are investigated. A one-dimension code based on the Ws15$M_{\sun}$ progenitor model is utilized to test the effects of electron screening during the collapsing process. The results show that, at high densities, the effects of EC on electron capture becomes significant. During the collapsing stage, the EC rate is decreased, the collapse timescale is prolonged and the leakage of the neutrino energy is increased. These effects lead to an appreciable decrease in the initial energy of the bounce shock wave. The effects of electron screeening in the other progenitor models are also discussed.