{
  "id": "2208.00053",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2022-07-29T19:51:34.000Z",
  "updated": "2022-07-29T19:51:34.000Z",
  "title": "Ignition of carbon burning from nuclear fission in compact stars",
  "authors": [
    "C. J. Horowitz"
  ],
  "comment": "6 pages, 3 figures, Accepted ApJ Letters",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.SR",
    "astro-ph.HE",
    "nucl-th"
  ],
  "abstract": "Type-Ia supernovae (SN Ia) are powerful stellar explosions that provide important distance indicators in cosmology. Recently, we proposed a new SN Ia mechanism that involves a nuclear fission chain reaction in an isolated white dwarf (WD) [PRL 126, 1311010]. The first solids that form as a WD starts to freeze are actinide rich and potentially support a fission chain reaction. In this letter we explore thermonuclear ignition from fission heating. We perform thermal diffusion simulations and find at high densities, above about 7x10^8 g/cm^3, that the fission heating can ignite carbon burning. This could produce a SN Ia or another kind of astrophysical transient.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2022-07-29T19:51:34.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "compact stars",
      "carbon burning",
      "perform thermal diffusion simulations",
      "nuclear fission chain reaction",
      "sn ia mechanism"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 6,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}