scholarly journals Sub-Chandrasekhar-mass detonations are in tension with the observed t0−MNi56 relation of type Ia supernovae

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (4) ◽  
pp. 4725-4747
Author(s):  
Doron Kushnir ◽  
Nahliel Wygoda ◽  
Amir Sharon

ABSTRACT Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are likely the thermonuclear explosions of carbon–oxygen (CO) white-dwarf (WD) stars, but their progenitor systems remain elusive. Recent studies have suggested that a propagating detonation within a thin helium shell surrounding a sub-Chandrasekhar mass CO core can subsequently trigger a detonation within the core (the double-detonation model, DDM). The outcome of this explosion is similar to a central ignition of a sub-Chandrasekhar mass CO WD (SCD). While SCD is consistent with some observational properties of SNe Ia, several computational challenges prohibit a robust comparison to the observations. We focus on the observed t0−MNi56 relation, where t0 (the γ-rays’ escape time from the ejecta) is positively correlated with MNi56 (the synthesized 56Ni mass). We apply our recently developed numerical scheme to calculate SCD and show that the calculated t0−MNi56 relation, which does not require radiation transfer calculations, converges to an accuracy of a few per cent. We find a clear tension between our calculations and the observed t0−MNi56 relation. SCD predicts an anticorrelation between t0 and MNi56, with $t_0\approx 30\, \textrm{d}$ for luminous ($M_\text{Ni56}\gtrsim 0.5\, \mathrm{ M}_{\odot }$) SNe Ia, while the observed t0 is in the range of $35\!-\!45\, \textrm{d}$. We show that this tension is larger than the uncertainty of the results, and that it exists in all previous studies of the problem. Our results hint that more complicated models are required, but we argue that DDM is unlikely to resolve the tension with the observations.

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S298) ◽  
pp. 442-442
Author(s):  
B. Wang ◽  
D. Liu ◽  
S. Jia ◽  
Z. Han

AbstractThermonuclear explosions from helium double-detonation sub-Chandrasekhar mass model have been considered as an alternative way for the production of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). In this work, we systematically studied the helium double-detonation model, in which a carbon–oxygen white dwarf (CO WD) accumulates a helium layer from a non-degenerate helium star.


1994 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 186-213
Author(s):  
J. Isern ◽  
R. Canal

AbstractIn this paper we review the behavior of growing stellar degenerate cores. It is shown that ONeMg white dwarfs and cold CO white dwarfs can collapse to form a neutron star. This collapse is completely silent since the total amount of radioactive elements that are expelled is very small and a burst of γ-rays is never produced. In the case of an explosion (always carbonoxygen cores), the outcome fits quite well the observed properties of Type Ia supernovae. Nevertheless, the light curves and the velocities measured at maximum are very homogeneous and the diversity introduced by igniting at different densities is not enough to account for the most extreme cases observed. It is also shown that a promising way out of this problem could be the He-induced detonation of white dwarfs with different masses. Finally, we outline that the location of the border line which separetes explosion from collapse strongly depends on the input physics adopted.


2004 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 111-112
Author(s):  
Lilia Ferrario

AbstractI argue that the observational evidence for white dwarf-white dwarf mergers supports the view that they give rise to ultra-massive white dwarfs or neutron stars through accretion induced collapse. The implications for the progenitors of Type Ia SNe are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (1) ◽  
pp. 578-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Cikota ◽  
Ferdinando Patat ◽  
Lifan Wang ◽  
J Craig Wheeler ◽  
Mattia Bulla ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Spectropolarimetry enables us to measure the geometry and chemical structure of the ejecta in supernova explosions, which is fundamental for the understanding of their explosion mechanism(s) and progenitor systems. We collected archival data of 35 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), observed with Focal Reducer and Low-Dispersion Spectrograph (FORS) on the Very Large Telescope at 127 epochs in total. We examined the polarization of the Si ii λ6355 Å line ($p_{\rm Si\, \small {II}}$) as a function of time, which is seen to peak at a range of various polarization degrees and epochs relative to maximum brightness. We reproduced the $\Delta m_{15}\!-\!p_{\rm Si\, \small {II}}$ relationship identified in a previous study, and show that subluminous and transitional objects display polarization values below the $\Delta m_{15}\!-\!p_{\rm Si\, \small {II}}$ relationship for normal SNe Ia. We found a statistically significant linear relationship between the polarization of the Si ii λ6355 Å line before maximum brightness and the Si ii line velocity and suggest that this, along with the $\Delta m_{15}\!-\!p_{\rm Si\, \small {II}}$ relationship, may be explained in the context of a delayed-detonation model. In contrast, we compared our observations to numerical predictions in the $\Delta m_{15}\!-\!v_{\rm Si\, \small {II}}$ plane and found a dichotomy in the polarization properties between Chandrasekhar and sub-Chandrasekhar mass explosions, which supports the possibility of two distinct explosion mechanisms. A subsample of SNe displays evolution of loops in the q–u plane that suggests a more complex Si structure with depth. This insight, which could not be gleaned from total flux spectra, presents a new constraint on explosion models. Finally, we compared our statistical sample of the Si ii polarization to quantitative predictions of the polarization levels for the double-detonation, delayed-detonation, and violent-merger models.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S281) ◽  
pp. 162-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mikołajewska

AbstractSymbiotic stars are interacting binaries in which the first-formed white dwarf accretes and burns material from a red giant companion. This paper aims at presenting physical characteristics of these objects and discussing their possible link with progenitors of Type Ia supernovae.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document