Modeling of Thermonuclear Fusion Flames: Parametric Transition to Detonation

ABSTRACT

The paper is concerned with the identification of the key mechanisms controlling deflagration-to-detonation transition in a stellar medium. The issue of thermal runaway triggered by positive feedback between the advancing flame and the flame-driven precompression is discussed in the framework of a one-dimensional flame-folding model. The paper is an extension of the authors’ previous study dealing with the non-stoichiometric fusion, $fuel\to products$, kinetics (Phys.Rev.E, 103(2021)) over physically more relevant, $fuel+fuel\to products$, kinetics. Despite this change the runaway effect endures. The mean velocity $⟨D_f⟩$ of the pretransition flame does not reach the threshold of Chapman–Jouguet deflagration.

KEYWORDS:

• Supernovae explosions
• white dwarfs
• thermal runaway of fast flames
• parametric deflagration-to-detonation transition
• nucleosynthesis
• thermonuclear fusion

Acknowledgments

The paper is dedicated to the memory of Paul Libby in appreciation of his contribution to the fundamentals of combustion science.

This research was supported, in part, by the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (Grant 2020-005). The work of P.V.G. was partially supported by the Simons Foundation (Grant 317882). The numerical simulations were performed at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (Grant PBS 0293-1) and the Computer Center of Tel Aviv University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation [Grant 2020-005]; Simons Foundation [Grant 317882].