"Study of the Gravitationally Confined Detonation Mechanism for Type Ia Supernovae"

This project, led by Don Lamb of the University of Chicago, was awarded 2.5 million hours to explore the gravitationally confined detonation (GCD) mechanism for incinerating a white dwarf in a stellar explosion known as a Type Ia supernova. The essential features of this mechanism have been confirmed in two-dimensional studies performed by other research groups, but confirmation of the mechanism with full threedimensional whole-star simulations remains elusive. Through a series of simulations, the critical issue of the parameter space in which a detonation of the white dwarf star occurs (if such a parameter space exists) will be examined with three-dimensional whole-star simulations performed with the FLASH code. The most promising three of these simulations will be extended through the phases in which the hot nuclear ash spreads over the stellar surface and collides at the opposite point on the stellar surface — possibly producing a detonation.