| Abstract: | The wide diversity of cosmic explosion arise from a variety of complex
physical phenomena. Each one of these cosmic fireworks, be it
supernovae, gamma ray burst, stellar collisions or tidal disruptions
is different in nature, but many of them also share many similarities.
In recent years the field of cosmic explosions began to be filled with
a zoo of peculiar explosions ranging in orders of magnitude in
brightness and time-length. I will discuss the strongly debated
progenitors of such cosmic explosions, the main processes involved in
their actual production, their major implications for the evolution of
the universe, and I will touch upon the many open questions which they
raise. In particular I will explain how do the regular seemingly
delicate but shining life of stars eventually lead to their violent
explosive death; how close symbiotic relations between companion
stars which exchange materials between them end up in a blasting
breakout of a ball of fire.
If time permit, I will explore the realm of stellar dynamics where
stars can clash and collide in small chaotic systems and in dense
stellar clusters, and explain how lighter stars are shredded by more
massive ones, or even by monstrous supermassive black holes in
galactic nuclei.
Beside their magnificent role in lighting up our night sky, cosmic
explosions have major implications for the overall evolution of the
universe and our understanding of it, and play a key-role in the
build-up of the basic elements needed for life. I will briefly discuss
how they shape the environments of galaxies through a network of
feedback processes between star formation and stellar death, and I'll
review how explosive thermonuclear burning in these explosion
synthesize the heavy elements which compose most of Earth and and
thriving living environment in which we live today. |
