Structure of Convective-Reactive Zone in a Supernova Progenitor
Abstract
Convective-reactive events are phases of stellar evolution where turbulent mixing and nuclear burning directly compete, since their timescales become similar within convection zones. During these events the convection zone structure is shaped by a complex and dynamic interaction of convective transport and nuclear burning of individual chemical elements, with plasma streams connecting the entrainment regions with the burning layers. Here we analyse a 3D hydrodynamic simulation of an oxygen--neon shell merger in a massive pre-supernova star. We study the emergent structure using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) mean-field composition transport equation. We find that the merged convective zone develops a complex, turbulence-driven mixing structure of multiple nested convective-reactive shells, all contained within the single convection zone. Key controlling factors include not only the mean stratification and mixing, but also emergent collective behaviour of involved nuclear reactions for every chemical isotope. Almost all layers show a quasi-steady balance between burning and mixing. We categorise the various layers, and discuss/contrast with 1D stellar evolution code treatments, highlighting some implications.
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BibTeX
@misc{mocak2026structure,
title = {{Structure of Convective-Reactive Zone in a Supernova Progenitor}},
author = {M. Mocak and C. Meakin and F. Rizzuti and S. W. Campbell and V. Varma and R. Hirschi and C. Georgy and W. D. Arnett},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.01239},
eprint = {2610.01239},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01239},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Structure of Convective-Reactive Zone in a Supernova Progenitor
AU - M. Mocak
AU - C. Meakin
AU - F. Rizzuti
AU - S. W. Campbell
AU - V. Varma
AU - R. Hirschi
AU - C. Georgy
AU - W. D. Arnett
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.01239
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01239
AB - Convective-reactive events are phases of stellar evolution where turbulent mixing and nuclear burning directly compete, since their timescales become similar within convection zones. During these events the convection zone structure is shaped by a complex and dynamic interaction of convective transport and nuclear burning of individual chemical elements, with plasma streams connecting the entrainment regions with the burning layers. Here we analyse a 3D hydrodynamic simulation of an oxygen--neon shell merger in a massive pre-supernova star. We study the emergent structure using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) mean-field composition transport equation. We find that the merged convective zone develops a complex, turbulence-driven mixing structure of multiple nested convective-reactive shells, all contained within the single convection zone. Key controlling factors include not only the mean stratification and mixing, but also emergent collective behaviour of involved nuclear reactions for every chemical isotope. Almost all layers show a quasi-steady balance between burning and mixing. We categorise the various layers, and discuss/contrast with 1D stellar evolution code treatments, highlighting some implications.
ER -