QCD phase transition drives supernova explosion of a very massive star

TL;DR

This paper explores how a first-order phase transition to quark-gluon plasma in massive stars influences supernova explosions, highlighting the impact of metallicity on the explosion mechanism and black hole formation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that low-metallicity massive stars fail to explode due to phase transition effects, challenging their role in early universe nucleosynthesis.

Findings

Low-metallicity stars do not produce supernova explosions.

Phase transition to quark-gluon plasma can trigger explosions in certain conditions.

Low-metallicity models lead to black hole formation without explosions.

Abstract

The nature of core-collapse supernova (SN) explosions is yet incompletely understood. The present article revisits the scenario in which the release of latent heat due to a first-order phase transition, from normal nuclear matter to the quark-gluon plasma, liberates the necessary energy to explain observed SN explosions. Here, the role of the metallicity of the stellar progenitor is investigated, comparing a solar metallicity and a low-metallicity case, both having a zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) mass of 75 $M_\odot$. It is found that low-metallicity models belong exclusively to the failed SN branch, featuring the formation of black holes without explosions. It excludes this class of massive star explosions as possible site for the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements at extremely low metallicity, usually associated with the early universe.