3-D Simulation of Convection in an Electron-capture ONe Core

Degenerate ONe cores, consisting of ¹⁶O and ²⁰Ne, which are the primary ashesof carbon burning, have been widely discussed, especially in the context of electron-capture supernova (ECSN). When the density is above 10⁹ g cm^*3, the electroncapture (EC) reactions will dominate the evolution of an ONe-core white dwarf(WD). The energy generated by EC process on ²⁰Ne triggers convective fluid motion,which takes the heat away from the burning area, potentially slowing the rate oftemperature rise and delaying the initiation of oxygen deflagration. ONe cores have been widely studied, but unfortunately, a major issue is that mostof the stellar evolution codes used by the previous simulations need to treat the multi-dimensional convection process with a one-dimensional mixing length description. We make use of MAESTROeX, a 3-D low-Mach-number solver, and Pynucastro, aPython-based nuclear reaction network generator, to study the effect of EC reactionsin a ONe core prior to ignition. In this poster, we will present results from oursimulations of the ONe core and discuss the implications for ECSN1