Random angular momentum in convection: delayed explosions of red supergiants following “failed” supernovae 

Red supergiants (RSGs) are the most common stars that will undergo iron core collapse.  Successful explosions of RSGs following core collapse lead to the most common supernovae, Type IIp.  However, a fraction of core-collapse events may not lead to an immediate supernova explosion of the RSG. In those cases, a large fraction of the hydrogen envelope will fall in towards the newly-formed black hole.   The angular momentum...

“Next-Generation Simulations of The Remarkable Deaths of Massive Stars”

Multidimensional progenitor models can enable us to capture the chaotic nuclear shell burning occurring deep within the interior of a massive star. I will discuss ongoing efforts to progress our understanding of the nature of massive stars through next-generation hydrodynamic stellar models. In particular, I will present recent results of a...

"Chaotic Tides and Hot Jupiter Formation"

Abstract: Many hot Jupiters (HJs) have been observed to have large obliquities or misalignments between the stellar spin axis and the orbital angular momentum of the planet. This observation hints that at least a portion of HJs formed through high-eccentricity migration, in which a cold Jupiter is excited onto a highly eccentric orbit that circularizes over time due to tidal dissipation in the planet. Previous studies of high-e migration have use parameterized treatments of weak tidal friction and overlooked critical contributions from...

"LISA's role in multi-band and multi-messenger astronomy for stellar-origin sources"

Abstract: The Galactic population of double stellar remnants will be the largest source class, by number, for LISA as well as the largest noise source for the mission at frequencies below 1 mHz. Double white dwarf binaries make up the vast majority of the population and are flagship multimessenger sources, observable both with electromagnetic (EM) surveys and gravitational waves (GWs). More massive stellar remnants, like neutron stars and black holes, will be observable as extra-Galactic...