Jozsef Vinko: Progenitors and explosion mechanisms for Type Ia supernovae

Tuesday 3 Feb 2026, 13:15 → 14:00 Europe/Stockholm

FB42 (AlbaNova Main Building)

Type Ia supernovae are thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs. However, we don't know how the explosion actually takes place. A single white dwarf cannot explode, so it must gain mass from either another white dwarf via merging, or from another star via mass transfer in a binary system. The nature of the progenitor is still debated. Also, there are many ways for the thermonuclear explosion itself. A key to distinguish between these theoretical scenarios may be the measurement of the ejected mass. In the talk I will review the possible progenitor and explosion models, and show some recent results from my group on ejecta mass measurements.

About the speaker:  Dr. Joszef Vinko is an associate professor and senior researcher at the University of Szeged and Konkoly Observatory in Hungary. He is also a long-term collaborator with the supernova group at UT Austin.  He works on many aspects of observing and modeling supernovae, from detailed studies of nearby and ordinary supernovae, to the most extreme and distant explosions in the universe.

In the OKC:  Feb 2nd-3rd (examiner in a PhD defense on the morning of Feb 2nd), in the SU astronomy corridor.