Core Collapse Supernovae --- Theory between Achievements and New Challenges

Abstract

Multi-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the post-bounce evolution of collapsed stellar iron cores have demonstrated that convective overturn between the stalled shock and the neutrinosphere can have an important effect on the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism. Whether a model yields a successful explosion or not, however, still depends on the power of neutrino energy deposition behind the stalled shock. The neutrino interaction with the stellar gas in the ``hot bubble'' also determines the duration of the shock stagnation phase, the explosion energy, and the composition of the neutrino-heated supernova ejecta. More accurate models require a more precise calculation of the neutrino luminosities and spectra and of the angular distributions of the neutrinos in the heating region. Therefore it is necessary to improve the numerical treatment of the neutrino transport, to develop a better understanding of the neutrino opacities of the dense nuclear medium, and to take into account convective processes {\it inside} the newly formed neutron star.