PROFESSOR JOSÉ ANTONIO FONT

Advanced LIGO and Virgo may soon detect gravitational waves from core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe). The analysis of these waves will provide direct insight into the explosion mechanism, a formidable challenge in theoretical astrophysics spanning nearly five decades. Present-day simulations include progenitors with realistic angular momentum profiles, state-of-the-art microphysics for the equation of state and the transport of neutrinos, strong magnetic fields, and general relativity to describe the structure and dynamics of both the spacetime and the matter content. Gravitational waves from CCSNe are produced by the excitation of different oscillation modes in the proto-neutron star (PNS) and its surroundings, including the shock. This talk will review the predictions of recent simulations and will examine how the gravitational-wave signal can help develop our understanding of the explosion mechanism. In particular we will discuss the close correspondence that exists between the post-bounce oscillation spectrum of the PNS-shock system, including g-modes, p-modes, and SASI modes, and the characteristic frequencies observed in gravitational-wave signals from CCSNe simulations. Such relationship provides support to initiate asteroseismology studies of CCSNe, and it may serve as a basis for future work on PNS parameter inference based on gravitational-wave observations.