Effects of LESA in Three-Dimensional Supernova Simulations with Multi-Dimensional and Ray-by-Ray-plus Neutrino Transport

TL;DR

This study investigates the LESA phenomenon in 3D supernova simulations, showing it is a physical effect rather than a numerical artifact, with detailed analysis of neutrino emission asymmetries across different models and transport methods.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive 3D simulation analysis of LESA with both multi-dimensional and ray-by-ray-plus neutrino transport, confirming LESA as a physical phenomenon.

Findings

LESA develops in all 3D models with stable dipole directions.

RBR+ transport results in faster, higher amplitude LESA dipoles.

FMD simulations show cleaner hemispheric asymmetries and dominant dipoles.

Abstract

A set of eight self-consistent, time-dependent supernova (SN) simulations in three spatial dimensions (3D) for 9 solar-mass and 20 solar-mass progenitors is evaluated for the presence of dipolar asymmetries of the electron lepton-number emission as discovered by Tamborra et al. and termed lepton-number emission self-sustained asymmetry (LESA). The simulations were performed with the Aenus-Alcar neutrino/hydrodynamics code, which treats the energy- and velocity-dependent transport of neutrinos of all flavors by a two-moment scheme with algebraic M1 closure. For each of the progenitors, results with fully multi-dimensional (FMD) neutrino transport and with ray-by-ray-plus (RbR+) approximation are considered for two different grid resolutions. While the 9 solar-mass models develop explosions, the 20 solar-mass progenitor does not explode with the employed version of simplified neutrino opacities. In all 3D models we observe the growth of substantial dipole amplitudes of the lepton-number (electron neutrino minus antineutrino) flux with stable or slowly time-evolving direction and overall properties fully consistent with the LESA phenomenon. Models with RbR+ transport develop LESA dipoles somewhat faster and with temporarily higher amplitudes, but the FMD calculations exhibit cleaner hemispheric asymmetries with a far more dominant dipole. In contrast, the RbR+ results display much wider multipole spectra of the neutrino-emission anisotropies with significant power also in the quadrupole and higher-order modes. Our results disprove speculations that LESA is a numerical artifact of RbR+ transport. We also discuss LESA as consequence of a dipolar convection flow inside of the nascent neutron star and establish, tentatively, a connection to Chandrasekhar's linear theory of thermal instability in spherical shells.