Actinide Crystallization and Fission Reactions in Cooling White Dwarf Stars Article Swipe
Related Concepts
White dwarf
Supernova
Actinide
Physics
Ejecta
Fission
Chandrasekhar limit
Nuclear physics
Astrophysics
Nucleosynthesis
Thermonuclear fusion
Stars
Neutron
Plasma
C. J. Horowitz
,
M. E. Caplan
·
YOU?
·
· 2021
· Open Access
·
· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.126.131101
· OA: W3143100790
YOU?
·
· 2021
· Open Access
·
· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.126.131101
· OA: W3143100790
The first solids that form as a cooling white dwarf (WD) starts to crystallize are expected to be greatly enriched in actinides. This is because the melting points of WD matter scale as Z^{5/3} and actinides have the largest charge Z. We estimate that the solids may be so enriched in actinides that they could support a fission chain reaction. This reaction could ignite carbon burning and lead to the explosion of an isolated WD in a thermonuclear supernova (SN Ia). Our mechanism could potentially explain SN Ia with sub-Chandrasekhar ejecta masses and short delay times.
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