Revival of the stalled core-collapse supernova shock triggered by precollapse asphericity in the progenitor star

Abstract

Multi-dimensional simulations of advanced nuclear burning stages of massive stars suggest that the Si/O layers of presupernova stars harbor large deviations from the spherical symmetry typically assumed for presupernova stellar structure. We carry out three-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulations with and without aspherical velocity perturbations to assess their potential impact on the supernova hydrodynamics in the stalled-shock phase. Our results show that realistic perturbations can qualitatively alter the postbounce evolution, triggering an explosion in a model that fails to explode without them. This finding underlines the need for a multi-dimensional treatment of the presupernova stage of stellar evolution. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..