Supernovae and gamma-ray bursts: Relativistic plasma physics in the Einstein centennial

Abstract

Supernovae and gamma-ray bursts are violent explosive events that require both the heritage of Einstein and complex plasma physics to understand. Core collapse supernovae raise issues of astrophysical dynamos and the dynamics of magnetic fields under exotic conditions to account for the ubiquitous asymmetries, frequently axisymmetric, that are observed. Gamma-ray bursts are extreme examples of this phenomenon involving flows with Lorentz factor of order 100 and again fundamental issues of plasma physics in the production of the flow and the acceleration of radiating particles to high velocities. Other types of explosions, those involving thermonuclear combustion in white dwarf stars, have been used to discover the acceleration of the Universe, once more invoking the spirit of Einstein to challenge physics at the deepest levels. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.