The Effect of Supernova Convection On Neutron Star and Black Hole Masses

TL;DR

This paper reviews how convection during stellar collapse influences the distribution of neutron star and black hole masses, highlighting the role of convective growth, stochastic effects, and rotation in shaping the remnant mass gaps.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of convection's impact on remnant masses, including the effects of stochasticity and rotation, advancing understanding of supernova outcomes.

Findings

Convective growth rate affects the neutron star-black hole mass gap.

Stochastic stellar structure influences remnant mass distribution.

Rotation impacts the pair-instability mass gap.

Abstract

Our understanding of the convective-engine paradigm driving core-collapse supernovae has been used for 2 decades to predict the remnant mass distribution from stellar collapse. These predictions improve as our understanding of this engine increases. In this paper, we review our current understanding of convection (in particular, the growth rate of convection) in stellar collapse and study its effect on the remnant mass distribution. We show how the depth of the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes can help probe this convective growth. We include a study of the effects of stochasticity in both the stellar structure and the convective seeds caused by stellar burning. We study the role of rotation and its effect on the pair-instability mass gap. Under the paradigm limiting stellar rotation to those stars in tight binaries, we determine the effect of rotation on the remnant mass distribution.