Constraints on the Progenitor System of SN 2016gkg from a Comprehensive Statistical Analysis

Abstract

Type IIb supernovae (SNe) present a unique opportunity for understanding the progenitors of stripped-envelope (SE) SNe as the stellar progenitor of several Type IIb SNe have been identified in pre-explosion images. In this paper, we use Bayesian inference and a large grid of non-rotating solar-metallicity single and binary stellar models to derive the associated probability distributions of single and binary progenitors of the Type IIb SN 2016gkg using existing observational constraints. We find that potential binary star progenitors have smaller pre-SN hydrogen-envelope and helium-core masses than potential single-star progenitors typically by 0.1 Msun and 2 Msun, respectively. We find that, a binary companion, if present, is a main-sequence or red-giant star. Apart from this, we do not find strong constraints on the nature of the companion star. We demonstrate that the range of progenitor helium-core mass inferred from observations could help improve constraints on the progenitor. We find that the probability that the progenitor of SN 2016gkg was a binary is 22% when we use constraints only on the progenitor luminosity and effective temperature. Imposing the range of pre-SN progenitor hydrogen-envelope mass and radius inferred from SN light-curves the probability the progenitor is a binary increases to 44%. However, there is no clear preference for a binary progenitor. This is in contrast to binaries being the currently favored formation channel for Type IIb SNe. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of statistical inference methods to constrain progenitor channels.

Accepted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters

References in corpus (10)

• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• Toward Complete Statistics of Massive Binary Stars: Penultimate Results from the Cygnus OB2 Radial Velocity Survey
• Pre-Supernova Outbursts via Wave Heating in Massive Stars I: Red Supergiants
• Type Ib and IIb supernova progenitors in interacting binary systems
• Uncovering the Putative B-Star Binary Companion of the SN 1993J Progenitor
• A Blue Point Source at the Location of Supernova 2011dh
• Constraints on the Progenitor of SN 2016gkg From Its Shock-Cooling Light Curve
• The progenitor and early evolution of the Type IIb SN 2016gkg
• On the Progenitor of the Type IIb Supernova 2016gkg
• Grazing envelope evolution toward Type IIb supernovae

Cited by in corpus (14)

• Constraints on core-collapse supernova progenitors from explosion site integral field spectroscopy
• Progenitors of Type IIb Supernovae: I. Evolutionary Pathways and Rates
• Effect of binary evolution on the inferred initial and final core masses of hydrogen-rich, Type~II supernova progenitors
• Revisiting the explodability of single massive star progenitors of stripped-envelope supernovae
• Observability of inflated companion stars after supernovae in massive binaries
• The disappearances of six supernova progenitors
• The effect of mass loss in models of red supergiants in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Updated Photometry of the Yellow Supergiant Progenitor and Late-time Observations of the Type IIb Supernova 2016gkg
• Radio Analysis of SN 2004C Reveals an Unusual CSM Density Profile as a Harbinger of Core Collapse
• The Demographics of Binary Companions to Stripped-Envelope Supernovae: Confronting Observations with Population Synthesis
• The formation of the stripped envelope type II b Supernova progenitors: Rotation, Metallicity and Overshooting
• Eccentric grazing envelope evolution towards type IIb supernova progenitors
• Searching for Surviving Companion in the Young SMC Supernova Remnant 1E 0102.2-7219
• SN 2024iss: A Double-peaked Type IIb Supernova with Evidence of Circumstellar Interaction