STABILITY OF DETONATIONS IN SUPERNOVAE

Carbon-oxygen thermonuclear detonations in supernovae are unstable at densities above congruent-to 2 x 10(7) g cm-3 with respect to longitud inal perturbations. The instability is caused by the positive feedback between hydrodynamical fluctuations and the energy release in the C-1 2 + C-12 reaction. The question remains open whether the detonations a re stable or not at densities below 2 x 10(7) g cm-3. The implications of the instability to the initiation of detonations in supernovae and supernovae nucleosynthesis are discussed.