INVERSE COMPTON X-RAY EMISSION FROM SUPERNOVAE WITH COMPACT PROGENITORS: APPLICATION TO SN2011fe

Journal Article · Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/751/2/134· OSTI ID:22037160

Margutti, R; Soderberg, A M; Chomiuk, L; Milisavljevic, D; Foley, R J; Slane, P; Moe, M ^[1]; Chevalier, R ^[2]; Hurley, K ^[3]; Hughes, J P ^[4]; Fransson, C ^[5]; Barthelmy, S; Cummings, J ^[6]; Boynton, W; Enos, H; Fellows, C ^[7]; Briggs, M; Connaughton, V ^[8]; Costa, E; Del Monte, E ^[9] ; others, and

---

1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
2. Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States)
3. Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450 (United States)
4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8019 (United States)
5. Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)
6. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
7. Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
8. Physics Department, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35809 (United States)
9. INAF/IASF-Roma, via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Roma (Italy)

We present a generalized analytic formalism for the inverse Compton X-ray emission from hydrogen-poor supernovae and apply this framework to SN 2011fe using Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT), UVOT, and Chandra observations. We characterize the optical properties of SN 2011fe in the Swift bands and find them to be broadly consistent with a 'normal' SN Ia, however, no X-ray source is detected by either XRT or Chandra. We constrain the progenitor system mass-loss rate M-dot < 2 x 10{sup -9} M{sub Sun }yr{sup -1} (3{sigma} c.l.) for wind velocity v{sub w} = 100 km s{sup -1}. Our result rules out symbiotic binary progenitors for SN 2011fe and argues against Roche lobe overflowing subgiants and main-sequence secondary stars if {approx}> 1% of the transferred mass is lost at the Lagrangian points. Regardless of the density profile, the X-ray non-detections are suggestive of a clean environment (n{sub CSM} < 150 cm{sup -3}) for 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} {approx}< R {approx}< 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 16} cm around the progenitor site. This is either consistent with the bulk of material being confined within the binary system or with a significant delay between mass loss and supernova explosion. We furthermore combine X-ray and radio limits from Chomiuk et al. to constrain the post-shock energy density in magnetic fields. Finally, we searched for the shock breakout pulse using gamma-ray observations from the Interplanetary Network and find no compelling evidence for a supernova-associated burst. Based on the compact radius of the progenitor star we estimate that the shock breakout pulse was likely not detectable by current satellites.

• OSTI ID: 22037160
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 751, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES
DETECTION
ENERGY DENSITY
GAMMA ASTRONOMY
GAMMA RADIATION
HYDROGEN
LAGRANGIAN FUNCTION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MASS TRANSFER
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOTON EMISSION
PULSES
ROCHE EQUIPOTENTIALS
SUPERNOVAE
TELESCOPES
X RADIATION