CONSTRAINING TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA MODELS: SN 2011fe AS A TEST CASE
- Institut fuer Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universitaet Wuerzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Wuerzburg (Germany)
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, D-85741 Garching (Germany)
- Heidelberger Institut fuer Theoretische Studien, Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, 69118 Heidelberg (Germany)
- Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Mount Stromlo Observatory, Cotter Road, Weston Creek, ACT 2611 (Australia)
- Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
- Laboratoire de Physique Nucleaire et des Hautes Energies, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, Universite Paris Diderot Paris 7, CNRS-IN2P3, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05 (France)
- Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06250-8121 (United States)
- Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Bonn, Nussallee 12, 53115 Bonn (Germany)
- Universite de Lyon, F-69622, Lyon (France)
The nearby supernova SN 2011fe can be observed in unprecedented detail. Therefore, it is an important test case for Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) models, which may bring us closer to understanding the physical nature of these objects. Here, we explore how available and expected future observations of SN 2011fe can be used to constrain SN Ia explosion scenarios. We base our discussion on three-dimensional simulations of a delayed detonation in a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf and of a violent merger of two white dwarfs (WDs)-realizations of explosion models appropriate for two of the most widely discussed progenitor channels that may give rise to SNe Ia. Although both models have their shortcomings in reproducing details of the early and near-maximum spectra of SN 2011fe obtained by the Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory), the overall match with the observations is reasonable. The level of agreement is slightly better for the merger, in particular around maximum, but a clear preference for one model over the other is still not justified. Observations at late epochs, however, hold promise for discriminating the explosion scenarios in a straightforward way, as a nucleosynthesis effect leads to differences in the {sup 55}Co production. SN 2011fe is close enough to be followed sufficiently long to study this effect.
- OSTI ID:
- 22047853
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 750; ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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