CaDS Seminar 2022 - Aug. 23

Evan Berkowitz (SDL-Numerical-QFT)

Many-Body Nuclear Physics under Supernova Conditions

Abstract:
Supernovae are among the most spectacularly violent phenomena in our universe. At the beginning of these explosions an enormous amount of energy is radiated in neutrinos, which are particles that pass through everyday matter undetected. These neutrinos interact with the nuclear medium of the exploding star.

Computer simulations of supernovae which rely on crude simplifications of this interaction fail to explode. I'll offer an introduction and invitation to our recent ab-initio computational work in quantum many-body nuclear physics which offers large corrections to these simplifications. Our method can also describe cold atom systems and systems of unitary gasses in laboratory experiments.