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The conductive propagation of nuclear flames. I - Degenerate C + O and O + Ne + Mg white dwarfsThe paper determines the physical properties - speed, width, and density structure - of conductive burning fronts in degenerate carbon-oxygen (C + O) and oxygen-neon-magnesium (O + Ne + Mg) compositions for a grid of initial densities and compositions. The dependence of the physical properties of the flame on the assumed values of nuclear reaction rates, the nuclear reaction network employed, the thermal conductivity, and the choice of coordinate system are investigated. The occurrence of accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf is found to be critically dependent on the velocity of the nuclear conductive burning front and the growth rate of hydrodynamic instabilities. Treating the expanding area of the turbulent burning region as a fractal whose tile size is identical to the minimum unstable Rayleigh-Taylor wavelength, it is found, for all reasonable values of the fractal dimension, that for initial C + O or O + Ne + Mg densities above about 9 x 10 exp 9 g/cu cm the white dwarf should collapse to a neutron star.
Document ID
19920071748
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Timmes, F. X.
(Lick Observatory Santa Cruz, CA, United States)
Woosley, S. E.
(Lick Observatory, Santa Cruz; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
September 10, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 396
Issue: 2 Se
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
92A54372
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2525
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1273
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-88-13649
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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