Black Hole Supernovae: An Explosive Black Hole Formation Channel

by Oliver Eggenberger Andersen (Stockholm University)

Wednesday 11 Nov 2026, 13:30 → 14:30 Europe/Stockholm

FC 61 (AlbaNova Main Building)

While the title may sound exotic, my contribution to the core-collapse supernova field has been to demonstrate that black hole supernovae are not only a natural outcome in multidimensional simulations, but may also be more common than expected. To support the above statement, I will present a suite of simulations spanning a wide range of stellar progenitors, evolved self-consistently from core collapse, through shock revival and black hole formation, and eventually to shock breakout. All multimessenger signals will be shown. Some light curves indicate how black hole supernovae may hide among ordinary supernovae, while others show distinct signatures. Since the formation of the black hole disrupts the explosion development, I will discuss how the star separates itself into black hole and ejecta components, and how much of the material made in explosive nucleosynthesis, such as nickel-56, escapes the black hole with the ejecta. The gravitational waves represent the oscillatory ringing of the proto-neutron star before it collapses into a black hole. This ringing even modulates the neutrino signal in a way that detectors such as IceCube could detect for a source within a few kpc. Finally, I will evaluate the channel’s potential contribution to the black hole mass distribution and thoroughly investigate how the nuclear equation of state affects the dynamics.