A major challenge for theoretical astrophysics is to explain how massive stars end their lives. The death of massive stars, core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), are some of the most energetic explosions in the Universe; they herald the birth of neutron stars and black holes, are prodigious emitters of neutrinos and gravitational waves, influence galactic hydrodynamics, trigger further star formation, and are a major site for nucleosynthesis. Though these explosions play an important and multifaceted role in many cosmic phenomena, the details of the explosion mechanism have remained elusive for many decades. We outline a theoretical campaign to deepen our understanding of the mechanism of explosion. Current theory indicates that aspherical instabilities are a major ingredient in aiding successful explosions, but exactly how they aide the explosion remains uncertain. The main objectives of this proposal are to identify which instabilities are most relevant for the explosion, develop a theory for the nonlinear instabilities, and incorporate the instability theory into a theory for successful explosions. Fully developing this theoretical framework will require both analytic theory and numerical simulations.
As a society, we face a moral dilemma; nearly 1% of the U.S. population is incarcerated in prison. This is the highest incarceration rate in the world, and even more troubling is the fact that poor and minority communities make up a disproportionately large fraction of the incarcerated population. The reasons for these disproportionate incarceration rates are complex, but one contributing factor is a lack of access to high-quality education. To help address this problem, members of the Princeton University faculty, staff, and students have formed the Princeton Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI). The mission of the PTI is to "reduce the incarceration rates in New Jersey by increasing access to outstanding post-secondary education." In many ways, the PTI is a great success, and is lauded as a role-model for other programs across the nation. These successes are encouraging, but to ensure that these students live productive, crime-free lives, we must use all tools at our disposal to help them exceed expectations. To this end, the PI will travel to Princeton and develop inquiry-based educational techniques to improve the effectiveness of an already successful prison education program.
