prof. dr Kei Kotake, Fukuoka Univ.

Exploding stars with supercomputers and multi-messenger probes of the supernova engine

A massive star of at least 10 times the mass of our sun ends its life in the most energetic explosion of the modern universe,known as supernova. The nearest one,SN1987A, occurred in the Large Magellanic cloud on February 23rd 1987,where cosmic neutrinos were detected for the first time.It was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2002 which opened up the new field of neutrino astronomy.Supernovae are also at the frontier of yet another novel epoch, the age of gravitational-wave astronomy,with the first detection of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers announced by the LIGO collaboration in 2016.The next generation of detectors is expected to yield gravitational waves also from supernovae.Significant progress has been made in supernova theory during the past three decades,aiming at the fundamental question:What is the mechanism that drives the explosion?In order to unambiguously address this question,perform large-scale numerical studies are required.Using some of the world-biggest supercomputing facilities,supernova modelers are now reporting on some success.In my talk I will discuss the state-of-the-art of this field and illuminate future directions of fundamental supernova research,which relate to multi-messengers observation: the simultaneous analysis of neutrino signal,as well as gravitational and electromagnetic waves.It is indispensable that these signatures will reveal the secrets of the central supernova engine,that is otherwise hidden deep inside a massive star.