Astrophysical signatures of hadroninc-to-quark-matter phase transitions (the Quark-Nova)
Rachid Oueyd
University of Calgary
Supernova explosions of massive stars are generally thought to leave
behind either a black hole or a neutron star. However, allowing for a
quark star phase (via a Quark-Nova explosion) leads to a dual-shock
phenomenon (the supernova shock followed by the Quark-Nova shock)
with unique astrophysical implications.
In this talk I will make a case for:
(i) Quark-Novae having manifested themselves as extremely Superluminous
Supernovae (e.g. 2006gy, SN2005gj, SN2005ap, SN2008fz, SN2003ma). For
Quark-Novae that arise days after the SNe, I will show that the
collision between the Quark-Nova ejecta and the supernova ejecta leads
to photometry and spectroscopy with encouraging fits to superluminous
Supernovae features (lightcurves and emission/absoprtion lines);
(ii) Quark-Novae having plausibly manifested themselves as bumps seen
in X-ray flares of Gamma Ray Bursts suggesting that these dual-shock
explosions may be behind the still elusive GRB phenomenon.
I will finish with some philosophical notes arguing on how remarkable
it would be if the solution to some of longstanding problems in
astrophysics (e.g. GRBs, UHECRs) could find answers in the discovery
of stable quark matter in the universe via a Quark-Nova.
Date: | Thursday, 21 January 2010 |
Time: | 11:30 |
Where: | Université de Montréal |
| Pavillon Roger-Gaudry, Local D-460 |
Contact: | Pierre Bergeron |
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