Astrophysical signatures of hadroninc-to-quark-matter phase transitions (the Quark-Nova)
Rachid Oueyd
University of Calgary

Supernova explosions of massive stars are generally thought to leave behind either a black hole or a neutron star. However, allowing for a quark star phase (via a Quark-Nova explosion) leads to a dual-shock phenomenon (the supernova shock followed by the Quark-Nova shock) with unique astrophysical implications. In this talk I will make a case for: (i) Quark-Novae having manifested themselves as extremely Superluminous Supernovae (e.g. 2006gy, SN2005gj, SN2005ap, SN2008fz, SN2003ma). For Quark-Novae that arise days after the SNe, I will show that the collision between the Quark-Nova ejecta and the supernova ejecta leads to photometry and spectroscopy with encouraging fits to superluminous Supernovae features (lightcurves and emission/absoprtion lines); (ii) Quark-Novae having plausibly manifested themselves as bumps seen in X-ray flares of Gamma Ray Bursts suggesting that these dual-shock explosions may be behind the still elusive GRB phenomenon. I will finish with some philosophical notes arguing on how remarkable it would be if the solution to some of longstanding problems in astrophysics (e.g. GRBs, UHECRs) could find answers in the discovery of stable quark matter in the universe via a Quark-Nova.

Date:	Jeudi, 21 janvier 2010
Time:	11:30
Where:	Université de Montréal
	Pavillon Roger-Gaudry, Local D-460
Contact:	Pierre Bergeron