Impacts of the new carbon fusion cross-sections on type Ia supernovae

Abstract

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thought to be thermonuclear explosion ofwhite dwarfs (WDs). Their progenitors are not well understood. One popular scenario is the double-degenerate (DD) scenario, which attributes SNe Ia to WD-WD binary mergers. The fates of the WD mergers depend on the rate of 12C + 12C reaction. Recently, the 12C + 12C cross-sections have been measured and the analysis of the data using the Trojan Horse Method suggested that the astrophysical reaction rate is larger than conventional rates at astrophysical temperatures due to possible resonances. The resonance contribution results in a decrease of the carbon burning ignition temperature. Therefore, accretion-induced collapse occurs more easily and increases the birth rate of Galactic neutron stars with the contribution of the DD scenario to the SNe Ia rate becoming even smaller.