Supernovae explosions induced by pair-production instability

Stars with a core mass greater than about 30 M become dynamically unstable due to electron-positron pair production when their central temperature reaches 1.5–2.0×10^{9 o}K. The colapse and subsequent explosion of stars with core masses of 45, 52, and 60 M is calculated. The range of the final velocity of expansion (3400–8500 km/sec) and of the mass ejected (1–40 M ) is comparable to that observed for type II supernovae. A dynamical model of convection is derived and included in the calculations. It was found that the effect of the convection on the explosions is probably not important.Work supported in part by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant NsG-426.