The Hydrodynamic Behavior of Supernovae Explosions

Abstract

Ve regard the release of gravitational energy attending a dynamic change in configuration to be the primary energy source in supernovae explosions. Although we were initially inspired by and agree in detail with the mechanism for initiating gravitational instability proposed by Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler, and Hoyle, we find that the dynamical implosion is so violent that an energy many times greater than the available thermonuclear energy is released from the star's core and transferred to the star's mantle in a supernova explosion. The energy released corresponds to the change in gravitational potential of the unstable imploding core; the transfer of energy takes place by the emission and deposition of neutrinos.