Towards an Understanding of the Resolution Dependence of Core-Collapse Supernova Simulations

Understand

Using our new state-of-the-art core-collapse supernova (CCSN) code Fornax, we explore the dependence upon spatial resolution of the outcome and character of three-dimensional (3D) supernova simulations.

• For the same 19-M$_{\odot}$ progenitor star, energy and radial binning, neutrino microphysics, and nuclear equation of state, changing only the number of angular bins in the $\theta$ and $\phi$ directions, we witness that our lowest resolution 3D simulation does not explode.
• However, when jumping progressively up in resolution by factors of two in each angular direction on our spherical-polar grid, models then explode, and explode slightly more vigorously with increasing resolution.
• This suggests that there can be a qualitative dependence of the outcome of 3D CCSN simulations upon spatial resolution.