Spherically symmetric accretion on to a compact object through a standing shock: the effects of general relativity in the Schwarzschild geometry

A core-collapse supernova is generated by the passage of a shock wave through the envelope of a massive star, where the shock wave is initially launched from the 'bounce' of the neutron star formed during the collapse of the stellar core. Instead of successfully exploding the star, however, numerical investigations of core-collapse supernovae find that this shock tends to 'stall' at small radii (less than or similar to 10 neutron star radii), with stellar material accreting on to the central object through the standing shock. Here, we present time-steady, adiabatic solutions for the density, pressure, and velocity of the shocked fluid that accretes on to the compact object through the stalled shock, and we include the effects of general relativity in the Schwarzschild metric. Similar to previous works that were carried out in the Newtonian limit, we find that the gas 'settles' interior to the stalled shock; in the relativistic regime analysed here, the velocity asymptotically approaches zero near the Schwarzschild radius. These solutions can represent accretion on to a material surface if the radius of the compact object is outside of its event horizon, such as a neutron star; we also discuss the possibility that these solutions can approximately represent the accretion of gas on to a newly formed black hole following a core-collapse event. Our findings and solutions are particularly relevant in weak and failed supernovae, where the shock is pushed to small radii and relativistic effects are large.

Automated summary

In this study, the phenomenon of shock wave stalling at small radii in core-collapse supernovae is investigated through numerical simulations. The study finds that the velocity of the shocked gas near the stalled shock approaches zero in the relativistic regime. These findings are important for understanding matter accretion and black hole formation following core-collapse events.