Numerical Simulations of Supernova Dust Destruction. I. Cloud-crushing
  and Post-processed Grain Sputtering
  We investigate through hydrodynamic simulations the destruction of
newly-formed dust grains by sputtering in the reverse shocks of supernova
remnants. Using an idealized setup of a planar shock impacting a dense,
spherical clump, we implant a population of Lagrangian particles into the clump
to represent a distribution of dust grains in size and composition. We then
post-process the simulation output to calculate the grain sputtering for a
variety of species and size distributions. We explore the parameter space
appropriate for this problem by altering the over-density of the ejecta clumps
and the speed of the reverse shocks. Since radiative cooling could lower the
temperature of the medium in which the dust is embedded and potentially protect
the dust by slowing or halting grain sputtering, we study the effects of
different cooling methods over the time scale of the simulations. In general,
our results indicate that grains with radii less than 0.1 microns are sputtered
to much smaller radii and often destroyed completely, while larger grains
survive their interaction with the reverse shock. We also find that, for high
ejecta densities, the percentage of dust that survives is strongly dependent on
the relative velocity between the clump and the reverse shock, causing up to
50% more destruction for the highest velocity shocks. The fraction of dust
destroyed varies widely across grain species, ranging from total destruction of
Al2O3 grains to minimal destruction of Fe grains (only 20% destruction in the
most extreme cases). C and SiO2 grains show moderate to strong sputtering as
well, with 38% and 80% mass loss. The survival rate of grains formed by early
supernovae is crucial in determining whether or not they can act as the "dust
factories" needed to explain high-redshift dust.
