Dust Formation in Core Collapse Supernovae

Supernovae (SN) not only forge chemical elements beyond H, He, & Li - making possible a diverse chemistry (and biology) - they are also sources of cosmic dust, which is essential for the formation of planets. Chemical abundance anomalies among nearby stars suggest the injection of enriched material into our parent molecular cloud by SN, with unclear implications for planet formation. To better understand the possible impact of SN, the team will model dust formation in core-collapse SN using 3D simulations. Dust grain abundance variations will be calculated and compared with laboratory data on elemental and isotopic ratios in pre-solar grains from meteorites. Joining numerical simulations of dust formation in evolving SN remnants with laboratory isotopic analysis of meteorites will lead to a better understanding of how the former is transformed into the latter. This award will also support graduate student training as well as the design of planetarium presentations based on the proposed research. The three main objectives of this study are: (1) predicting the dust composition of SN remnant structures as the they evolve. This includes computing the ejecta's isotopic composition and calculating dust formation/destruction; (2) comparing the modeled dust grain's isotopic composition with those of pre-solar dust grains using laboratory measurements and results from the literature; and (3) assessing grains as a source of isotopic anomalies in the early solar system. A suite of supernova explosions will be modeled using the team's Supernova Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic (SNSPH) code. Simulations will be carried out from the explosive "launch" of the ejecta to the Sedov phase of the remnant evolution. Isotopic yields of each SNSPH particle in the simulations will be calculated using the PRISM post-processing code. Subsequent dust formation calculations will use use nuDust, which couples gas phase chemistry, grain formation, grain growth as well as grain destruction and weathering. nuDust will also use the simulated thermodynamic histories of the material to predict the composition and size distribution of dust grains in each particle of the SNSPH simulation. Laboratory measurements and a compilation of published high precision isotopic data, grain sizes, and mineralogies from a variety of whole-rock meteorites, calcium-aluminum inclusions, and stardust grains will be used to assess isotopic correlations between and among non-carbonaceous and carbonaceous chondrite reservoirs in the context of new models produced by this work. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.