Progenitors of low-luminosity Type II-Plateau supernovae

Sergey M. Lisakov, Luc Dessart, D. John Hillier, Roni Waldman, Eli Livne

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30 Scopus citations

Abstract

The progenitors of low-luminosity Type II-Plateau supernovae (SNe II-P) are believed to be red supergiant (RSG) stars, but there is much disparity in the literature concerning their mass at core collapse and therefore on the main sequence. Here, we model the SN radiation arising from the low-energy explosion of RSG stars of 12, 25 and 27M on the main sequence and formed through single star evolution. Despite the narrow range in ejecta kinetic energy (2.5-4.2 × 1050 erg) in our model set, the SN observables from our three models are significantly distinct, reflecting the differences in progenitor structure (e.g. surface radius, H-rich envelope mass and He-core mass). Our higher mass RSG stars give rise to Type II SNe that tend to have bluer colours at early times, a shorter photospheric phase, and a faster declining V-band light curve (LC) more typical of Type II-linear SNe, in conflict with the LC plateau observed for low-luminosity SNe II. The complete fallback of the CO core in the low-energy explosions of our high-mass RSG stars prevents the ejection of any 56Ni (nor any core O or Si), in contrast to low-luminosity SNe II-P, which eject at least 0.001M of 56Ni. In contrast to observations, Type II SN models from higher mass RSGs tend to show an Hα absorption that remains broad at late times (due to a larger velocity at the base of the H-rich envelope). In agreement with the analyses of pre-explosion photometry, we conclude that low-luminosity SNe II-P likely arise from low-mass rather than high-mass RSG stars.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3863-3881
Number of pages19
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume473
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Supernovae: general
  • Supernovae: individual: 1994N, 1997D, 1999br, 1999eu, 1999gn, 2001dc, 2002gd, 2003Z, 2004eg, 2005cs, 2006ov, 2008bk, 2008in, 2009N, 2009md, 2010id, 2013am, 1999em

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