Three-dimensional simulations of standing accretion shock instability in core-collapse supernovae

We have studied nonaxisymmetric standing accretion shock instabilities, or SASI, using three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamical simulations. This is an extension of our previous study of axisymmetric SASI. We have prepared a spherically symmetric and steady accretion flow through a standing shock wave onto a proto-neutron star, taking into account a realistic equation of state and neutrino heating and cooling. This unperturbed model is meant to represent approximately the typical postbounce phase of core-collapse supernovae. We then added a small perturbation (∼1%) to the radial velocity and computed the ensuing evolutions. Both axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric perturbations have been imposed. We have applied mode analysis to the nonspherical deformation of the shock surface, using spherical harmonics. We have found that (1) the growth rates of SASI are degenerate with respect to the azimuthal index m of the spherical harmonics Y_l^m, just as expected for a spherically symmetric background; (2) nonlinear mode couplings produce only m = 0 modes for axisymmetric perturbations, whereas m ≠= 0 modes are also generated in the nonaxisymmetric cases, according to the selection rule for quadratic couplings; (3) the nonlinear saturation level of each mode is lower in general for 3D than for 2D, because a larger number of modes contribute to turbulence in 3D; (4) low-l modes are dominant in the nonlinear phase; (5) equipartition is nearly established among different m modes in the nonlinear phase; (6) spectra with respect to l obey power laws with a slope slightly steeper for 3D; and (7) although these features are common to the models with and without a shock revival at the end of the simulation, the dominance of low-l modes is more remarkable in the models with a shock revival.