Interaction-powered supernovae: rise-time versus peak-luminosity correlation and the shock-breakout velocity

Journal Article · Fri Jun 20 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/788/2/154· OSTI ID:22356582

Ofek, Eran O.; Arcavi, Iair; Tal, David; Gal-Yam, Avishay; Ben-Ami, Sagi; De Cia, Annalisa; Yaron, Ofer ^[1]; Sullivan, Mark ^[2]; Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.; Cao, Yi ^[3]; Nugent, Peter E. ^[4]; Bersier, David ^[5]; Cenko, S. Bradley ^[6]; Filippenko, Alexei V. ^[7]; Fransson, Claes ^[8]; Kasliwal, Mansi M. ^[9]; Laher, Russ; Surace, Jason ^[10]; Quimby, Robert ^[11]

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1. Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot (Israel)
2. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom)
3. Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
4. Computational Cosmology Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
5. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 5RF (United Kingdom)
6. Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
7. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)
8. Department of Astronomy, The Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Centre, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)
9. Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara St, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
10. Spitzer Science Center, MS 314-6, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
11. Kavli IPMU (WPI), The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan)

Interaction of supernova (SN) ejecta with the optically thick circumstellar medium (CSM) of a progenitor star can result in a bright, long-lived shock-breakout event. Candidates for such SNe include Type IIn and superluminous SNe. If some of these SNe are powered by interaction, then there should be a specific relation between their peak luminosity, bolometric light-curve rise time, and shock-breakout velocity. Given that the shock velocity during shock breakout is not measured, we expect a correlation, with a significant spread, between the rise time and the peak luminosity of these SNe. Here, we present a sample of 15 SNe IIn for which we have good constraints on their rise time and peak luminosity from observations obtained using the Palomar Transient Factory. We report on a possible correlation between the R-band rise time and peak luminosity of these SNe, with a false-alarm probability of 3%. Assuming that these SNe are powered by interaction, combining these observables and theory allows us to deduce lower limits on the shock-breakout velocity. The lower limits on the shock velocity we find are consistent with what is expected for SNe (i.e., ∼10{sup 4} km s{sup –1}). This supports the suggestion that the early-time light curves of SNe IIn are caused by shock breakout in a dense CSM. We note that such a correlation can arise from other physical mechanisms. Performing such a test on other classes of SNe (e.g., superluminous SNe) can be used to rule out the interaction model for a class of events.

• OSTI ID: 22356582
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 788, 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
BOLOMETERS
CORRELATIONS
LUMINOSITY
MASS TRANSFER
PROBABILITY
PULSE RISE TIME
STELLAR WINDS
SUPERNOVAE
SUPPORTS
TRANSIENTS
VELOCITY
VISIBLE RADIATION