Wednesday Colloquia

What makes a Thermonuclear Supernova?

by Dr. Sayan Chakraborti (Harvard University)

Monday, December 16, 2013 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at Colaba Campus ( AG -66 (Lecture Theatre) )
Description
ABSTRACT:

Thermonuclear supernovae, with their remarkably homogeneous light curves and spectra, have been used as standardizable candles to measure the accelerating expansion of the Universe. Yet, their progenitors remain elusive. Common explanations invoke a degenerate star (white dwarf) which explodes upon reaching close to the Chandrasekhar limit, by either steadily accreting mass from a companion star or violently merging with another degenerate star. We shall discuss, if and how circumstellar interaction in young galactic supernova remnants can be used to distinguish between these single and double degenerate progenitor scenarios?
Organised by Roop Mallik, Wednesday Colloquium Co-ordinator