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Title: Evidence for Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass Type Ia Supernovae from an Extensive Survey of Radiative Transfer Models

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online)
ORCiD logo [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

There exists two classes of viable progenitors for normal Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia): systems in which a white dwarf explodes at the Chandrasekhar mass ($${M}_{\mathrm{ch}}$$), and systems in which a white dwarf explodes below the Chandrasekhar mass (sub-$${M}_{\mathrm{ch}}$$). It is not clear which of these channels is dominant; observations and light-curve modeling have provided evidence for both. In this work we use an extensive grid of 4500 time-dependent, multiwavelength radiation transport simulations to show that the sub-$${M}_{\mathrm{ch}}$$ model can reproduce the entirety of the width–luminosity relation, while the $${M}_{\mathrm{ch}}$$ model can only produce the brighter events $$(0.8\lt {\rm{\Delta }}{M}_{15}(B)\lt 1.55)$$, implying that fast-declining SNe Ia come from sub-$${M}_{\mathrm{ch}}$$ explosions. We do not assume a particular theoretical paradigm for the progenitor or explosion mechanism, but instead construct parameterized models that vary the mass, kinetic energy, and compositional structure of the ejecta, thereby realizing a broad range of possible outcomes of white dwarf explosions. We provide fitting functions based on our large grid of detailed simulations that map observable properties of SNe Ia, such as peak brightness and light-curve width, to physical parameters such as $${}^{56}\mathrm{Ni}$$ and total ejected mass. These can be used to estimate the physical properties of observed SNe Ia.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; SC0017616; SC0018297
OSTI ID:
1524170
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online), Vol. 852, Issue 2; ISSN 2041-8213
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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On the evolution of rapidly rotating massive white dwarfs towards supernovae or collapses text January 2005
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Cited By (21)

Nucleosynthesis in Supernovae journal March 2018
Mass-accreting white dwarfs and type Ia supernovae journal May 2018
iPTF16abc and the population of Type Ia supernovae: comparing the photospheric, transitional, and nebular phases journal July 2018
Probing type Ia supernova properties using bolometric light curves from the Carnegie Supernova Project and the CfA Supernova Group journal November 2018
Constraining Type Ia supernova asymmetry with the gamma-ray escape time-scale journal May 2019
ASASSN-18tb: a most unusual Type Ia supernova observed by TESS and SALT journal May 2019
Linear spectropolarimetry of 35 Type Ia supernovae with VLT/FORS: an analysis of the Si ii line polarization journal August 2019
Common envelope to explosion delay time of Type Ia supernovae journal October 2019
The radial distribution of supernovae compared to star formation tracers journal November 2019
Characterizing the secondary maximum in the r -band for Type Ia supernovae: diagnostic for the ejecta mass journal March 2019
A unified mechanism for unconfined deflagration-to-detonation transition in terrestrial chemical systems and type Ia supernovae journal October 2019
Chandrasekhar and Sub-Chandrasekhar Models for the X-Ray Emission of Type Ia Supernova Remnants. I. Bulk Properties journal October 2018
Observational Predictions for Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass Explosions: Further Evidence for Multiple Progenitor Systems for Type Ia Supernovae journal March 2019
Evidence for Sub-Chandrasekhar Type Ia Supernovae from Stellar Abundances in Dwarf Galaxies journal August 2019
Mass-accreting white dwarfs and type Ia supernovae text January 2018
iPTF16abc and the population of Type Ia supernovae: Comparing the photospheric, transitional and nebular phases text January 2018
Probing type Ia supernova properties using bolometric light curves from the Carnegie Supernova Project and the CfA Supernova Group text January 2018
Constraining Type Ia Supernova Asymmetry with the Gamma-Ray Escape Timescale text January 2019
ASASSN-18tb: A Most Unusual Type Ia Supernova Observed by TESS and SALT text January 2019
Linear spectropolarimetry of 35 Type Ia Supernovae with VLT/FORS: An analysis of the Si II line polarization text January 2019
The radial distribution of supernovae compared to star formation tracers text January 2019

Figures / Tables (5)


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