Equation-of-state dependent features in shock-oscillation modulated neutrino and gravitational-wave signals from supernovae

Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str.1, 85748 Garching, Germany e-mail: thj@mpa-garching.mpg.de

Received: 29 August 2008
Accepted: 28 January 2009

Abstract

We present two-dimensional (axisymmetric) neutrino-hydrodynamic simulations of the long-time accretion phase of a 15 progenitor star after core bounce and before the launch of a supernova explosion, when non-radial hydrodynamic instabilities like convection occur in different regions of the collapsing stellar core and the standing accretion shock instability (SASI) leads to large-amplitude oscillations of the stalled shock with a period of tens of milliseconds. Our simulations were performed with the Prometheus-Vertex code, which includes a multi-flavor, energy-dependent neutrino transport scheme and employs an effective relativistic gravitational potential. Testing the influence of a stiff and a soft equation of state for hot neutron star matter, we find that the non-radial mass motions in the supernova core impose a time variability on the neutrino and gravitational-wave signals with larger amplitudes, as well as higher frequencies in the case of a more compact nascent neutron star. After the prompt shock-breakout burst of electron neutrinos, a more compact accreting remnant produces higher neutrino luminosities and higher mean neutrino energies. The observable neutrino emission in the SASI sloshing direction exhibits a modulation of several ten percent in the luminosities and around 1 MeV in the mean energies with most power at typical SASI frequencies between roughly 20 and 100 Hz. The modulation is caused by quasi-periodic variations in the mass accretion rate of the neutron star in each hemisphere. At times later than ~50–100 ms after bounce, the gravitational-wave amplitude is dominated by the growing low-frequency (200 Hz) signal associated with anisotropic neutrino emission. A high-frequency wave signal results from nonradial gas flows in the outer layers of the anisotropically accreting neutron star. Right after bounce such nonradial mass motions occur due to prompt post-shock convection in both considered cases and contribute mostly to the early wave production around 100 Hz. Later they are instigated by the SASI and by convective overturn that vigorously stir the neutrino-heating and cooling layers, and also by convective activity developing below the neutrinosphere. The gravitational-wave power then peaks at about 300–800 Hz, connected to changes in the mass quadrupole moment on a timescale of milliseconds. Distinctively higher spectral frequencies originate from the more compact and more rapidly contracting neutron star. Both the neutrino and gravitational-wave emission therefore carry information that is characteristic of the properties of the nuclear equation of state in the hot remnant. The detectability of the SASI effects in the neutrino and gravitational-wave signals is briefly discussed.