Publisher's Synopsis
This session of Les Houches was devoted to the recent advances in the physics of supernovae and special emphasis was placed on the fascinating results obtained from supernova 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Supernovae are the most dramatic optical display in astronomy and the most energetic events in the Universe since the Big Bang.;The volume begins with a spectroscopic and photometric classification of supernovae with the aim of relating these observational classifications to progenitor characteristics (stellar core and envelope, circumstellar environment) and to explosion mechanisms. Further chapters deal with supernova statistics, neutrino and gravitational wave detection of stellar collapses, late stages of stellar evolution culminating in binary star accretion-induced thermal runaway, deflagration or detonation, nuclear equation of state, weak coupling between neutrinos and matter. The evolution of supernova remnants and their effects on the interstellar medium are also considered as are the possibilities of neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis.;All the contributions are from scientists presently active in the field and the resulting volume is an up-to-date review of the work being carried out in the exciting, fast-moving field of supernova astrophysics.
