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Title: Type Ia Supernovae From Merging White Dwarfs. II. Post-Merger Detonations

Abstract

Merging carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs are a promising progenitor system for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), but the underlying physics and timing of the detonation are still debated. If an explosion occurs after the secondary star is fully disrupted, the exploding primary will expand into a dense CO medium that may still have a disk-like structure. This interaction will decelerate and distort the ejecta. Here we carry out multidimensional simulations of "tamped" SN Ia models, using both particle and grid-based codes to study the merger and explosion dynamics and a radiative transfer code to calculate synthetic spectra and light curves. We find that post-merger explosions exhibit an hourglass-shaped asymmetry, leading to strong variations in the light curves with viewing angle. The two most important factors affecting the outcome are the scale height of the disk, which depends sensitively on the binary mass ratio, and the total 56Ni yield, which is governed by the central density of the remnant core. The synthetic broadband light curves rise and decline very slowly, and the spectra generally look peculiar, with weak features from intermediate mass elements but relatively strong carbon absorption. We also consider the effects of the viscous evolution of the remnant andmore » show that a longer time delay between merger and explosion probably leads to larger 56Ni yields and more symmetrical remnants. We discuss the relevance of this class of aspherical "tamped" SN Ia for explaining the class of "super-Chandrasekhar" SN Ia.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Nuclear Science Division
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Nuclear Science Division; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Dept. of Astronomy
  3. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Dept. of Astronomy
  4. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Dept. of Astronomy
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1565188
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725; SC0008067; SC0010676
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 788; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Astronomy & Astrophysics; hydrodynamics; nuclear reactions; nucleosynthesis; abundances; supernovae: general; white dwarfs

Citation Formats

Raskin, Cody, Kasen, Daniel, Moll, Rainer, Schwab, Josiah, and Woosley, Stan. Type Ia Supernovae From Merging White Dwarfs. II. Post-Merger Detonations. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/788/1/75.
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Raskin, Cody, Kasen, Daniel, Moll, Rainer, Schwab, Josiah, & Woosley, Stan. Type Ia Supernovae From Merging White Dwarfs. II. Post-Merger Detonations. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/788/1/75
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Raskin, Cody, Kasen, Daniel, Moll, Rainer, Schwab, Josiah, and Woosley, Stan. Fri . "Type Ia Supernovae From Merging White Dwarfs. II. Post-Merger Detonations". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/788/1/75. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1565188.
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@article{osti_1565188,
title = {Type Ia Supernovae From Merging White Dwarfs. II. Post-Merger Detonations},
author = {Raskin, Cody and Kasen, Daniel and Moll, Rainer and Schwab, Josiah and Woosley, Stan},
abstractNote = {Merging carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs are a promising progenitor system for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), but the underlying physics and timing of the detonation are still debated. If an explosion occurs after the secondary star is fully disrupted, the exploding primary will expand into a dense CO medium that may still have a disk-like structure. This interaction will decelerate and distort the ejecta. Here we carry out multidimensional simulations of "tamped" SN Ia models, using both particle and grid-based codes to study the merger and explosion dynamics and a radiative transfer code to calculate synthetic spectra and light curves. We find that post-merger explosions exhibit an hourglass-shaped asymmetry, leading to strong variations in the light curves with viewing angle. The two most important factors affecting the outcome are the scale height of the disk, which depends sensitively on the binary mass ratio, and the total 56Ni yield, which is governed by the central density of the remnant core. The synthetic broadband light curves rise and decline very slowly, and the spectra generally look peculiar, with weak features from intermediate mass elements but relatively strong carbon absorption. We also consider the effects of the viscous evolution of the remnant and show that a longer time delay between merger and explosion probably leads to larger 56Ni yields and more symmetrical remnants. We discuss the relevance of this class of aspherical "tamped" SN Ia for explaining the class of "super-Chandrasekhar" SN Ia.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637x/788/1/75},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
number = 1,
volume = 788,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri May 23 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Fri May 23 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/788/1/75
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