Supernova Explosions and Neutron Star Formation

The current picture of the collapse and explosion of massive stars and the formation of neutron stars is reviewed. According to the favored scenario, however by no means proven and undisputed, neutrinos deposit the energy of the explosion in the stellar medium which surrounds the nascent neutron star. Observations, in particular of Supernova 1987A, suggest that mixing processes play an important role in the expanding star, and multi-dimensional simulations show that these are linked to convective instabilities in the immediate vicinity of the neutron star. Convectively enhanced energy transport inside the neutron star can have important consequences for the neutrino emission and thus the neutrino-heating mechanism. This also holds for a suppression of the neutrino interactions at nuclear densities. Multi-dimensional hydrodynamics, general relativity, and a better understanding of the neutrino interactions in neutron star matter may be crucial to resolve the problem that state-of-the-art spherical models do not yield explosions even with a very accurate treatment of neutrino transport by solving the Boltzmann equation.