Inhomogeneities in type Ib/c supernovae: An inverse Compton scattering origin of the X-ray emission

Abstract

Inhomogeneities in a synchrotron source can severely affect the conclusions drawn from observations regarding the source properties. However, their presence is not always easy to establish, since several other effects can give rise to similar observed characteristics. It is argued that the recently observed broadening of the radio spectra and/or light curves in some of the type Ib/c supernovae is a direct indication of inhomogeneities. As compared to a homogeneous source, this increases the deduced velocity of the forward shock and the observed correlation between total energy and shock velocity could in part be due to a varying covering factor. The X-ray emission from at least some type Ib/c supernovae is unlikely to be synchrotron radiation from an electron distribution accelerated in a non-linear shock. Instead it is shown that the observed correlation during the first few hundred days between the radio, X-ray and bolometric luminosities indicates that the X-ray emission is inverse Compton scattering of the photospheric photons. Inhomogeneities are consistent with equipartition between electrons and magnetic fields in the optically thin synchrotron emitting regions.

Accepted for publication in ApJ, 21 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Circumstellar Emission from Type Ib and Ic Supernovae
• Asphericity in Supernova Explosions from Late-Time Spectroscopy
• Radio Imaging of SN 1993J: The Story Continues

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Thermal and non-thermal emission from circumstellar interaction
• A multi-wavelength investigation of the radio-loud supernova PTF11qcj and its circumstellar environment
• Inhomogeneities and the modeling of radio supernovae
• Heating from free-free absorption and the mass-loss rate of the progenitor stars to supernovae
• Joining radio with X-rays: A revised model for SN 1993J
• Type Ib supernova Master OT J120451.50+265946.6: radio emitting shock with inhomogeneities crossing through a dense shell
• The nascent milliquasar VT J154843.06+220812.6: tidal disruption event or extreme accretion-state change?
• The dense and non-homogeneous circumstellar medium revealed in radio wavelengths around the Type Ib SN 2019oys
• The radio spectra of SN 2020oi: Effects of radiative cooling on the deduced source properties
• Implications of the low frequency turn-over in the spectrum of radio knot C in DG Tau