Double-detonation sub-Chandrasekhar supernovae: can minimum helium shell masses detonate the core?

Understand

The explosion of sub-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarfs via the double detonation scenario is a potential explanation for type Ia supernovae.

• In this scenario, a surface detonation in a helium layer initiates a detonation in the underlying carbon/oxygen core leading to an explosion.
• For a given core mass, a lower bound has been determined on the mass of the helium shell required for dynamical burning during a helium flash, which is a necessary prerequisite for detonation.
• For a range of core and corresponding minimum helium shell masses, we investigate whether an assumed surface helium detonation is capable of triggering a subsequent detonation in the core even for this limiting case.