Interstellar Encounters: Supergiant Star-Binary Black Hole Collisions and Relationships Between Science & Science Fiction

Chambers, Emma

Interstellar Encounters: Supergiant Star-Binary Black Hole Collisions and Relationships Between Science & Science Fiction

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10456/57681

Author(s)

Chambers, Emma

Date Issued

April 24, 2024

Abstract

Supergiant stars are some of the largest known stars to exist in the universe. While they may be few and far between, they do, in fact, exist. Because these stars exist, it is important to learn about their behaviors and how they might interact differently with a black hole compared to a smaller, main sequence star. Within this project, I describe the process of relaxing a supergiant star with mass 37.9434 M⊙ and six subsequent dynamical collisions with a binary black hole that contains two black holes that have masses of 32 M⊙, which is on the same order of mass as the supergiant star. I employ smoothed hydrodynamics code for both the relaxation and the collision processes. Three main categories come out of the six collision runs: total tidal disruption events, partial tidal disruption events with black hole replacement, and partial tidal disruption events with stellar ejection. I analyze how the final masses of each black hole in the system affects its spin, and I make the assumption that half of the stellar mass will be accreted onto the black hole by the end of the collision in the cases where there is a stellar remnant. In the second part, I analyze the influence that science communication in science fiction has on science in reality with Dernier Départ (Final Departure) by Christophe Martinolli. First, I take a look at the book itself and the relationship between the elite class and the role that framing science communication to inspire hope plays in taking scientific and political action. Then, I look at the ways that the elite class manipulates different forms of communication in order to retain control and power over the lower class. They disguise different forms of communication such as public addresses and propaganda as science communication. However, their goal is not to inform the public of scientific development and advances, but to provoke a sense of hope and safety to gain and maintain loyalty and therefore control. In the second part, I take a look at science fiction as a genre and how it benefits science communication and encourages scientific discovery and creativity. Finally, I analyze the ways that Martinolli implements the facets of science-fiction as a genre and the potential effects it could have on the scientific community.

Major

Physics

French

Honors

Physics, 2024

French, 2024

First Reader(s)

Lombardi, James C., Jr. (Jamie)

Lewis, Briana L.