Explosion of a supernova with a red giant companion

Two-dimensional numerical simulations of the collision between spherical ejecta from a supernova and a red giant companion are presented. In contrast to previous numerical studies, in which the companion was a main-sequence star or a compact object (Fryxell & Arnett 1981; Taam & Fryxell 1984), the collision consequences are found to have a dramatic impact upon the red giant. In most cases the red giant companion loses most of its envelope in a time scale of 10⁷ s with typical velocities about an order of magnitude less than those of the expanding velocity of the supernova shell. We confirm the conclusion of Chugai (1986) that the stripped hydrogen tends to come off as a low-velocity component interior to the supernova ejecta. Possible observational consequences of the results are discussed.