Long-term simulations of multi-dimensional core-collapse supernovae: Implications for neutron star kicks

Abstract

Abstract Core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are the final stage of massive stars, marking the birth of neutron stars (NSs). The aspherical mass ejection drives a natal kick of the forming NS. In this work we study the properties of the NS kick based on our long-term hydrodynamics CCSN simulations. We perform two-dimensional (2D) simulations for ten progenitors from a 10.8 to 20$\, M_{\odot }$ star covering a wide range of the progenitor’s compactness parameter, and two three-dimensional (3D) simulations for an 11.2$\, M_{\odot }$ star. Our 2D models present a variety of explosion energies between ∼1.3 × 1050 erg and ∼1.2 × 1051 erg, and NS kick velocities between ∼100 km s−1 and ∼1500 km s−1. For the 2D exploding models, we find that the kick velocities tend to become higher with the progenitor’s compactness. This is because the high progenitor compactness results in high neutrino luminosity from the proto-neutron star (PNS), leading to more energetic explosions. Since high-compactness progenitors produce massive PNSs, we point out that the NS masses and the kick velocities can be correlated, which is moderately supported by observation. Comparing 2D and 3D models of the 11.2$\, M_{\odot }$ star, the diagnostic explosion energy in 3D is, as previously identified, higher than that in 2D, whereas the 3D model results in a smaller asymmetry in the ejecta distribution and a smaller kick velocity than in 2D. Our results confirm the importance of self-consistent CCSN modeling covering a long-term post-bounce evolution in 3D for a quantitative prediction of the NS kicks.