The Pre-Explosion Mass Distribution of Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernova Progenitors and New Evidence for a Mass-Spin Correlation

Abstract

Despite indications that superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) originate from massive progenitors, the lack of a uniformly analyzed statistical sample has so far prevented a detailed view of the progenitor mass distribution. Here we present and analyze the pre-explosion mass distribution of hydrogen-poor SLSN progenitors as determined from uniformly modelled light curves of 62 events. We construct the distribution by summing the ejecta mass posteriors of each event, using magnetar light curve models presented in our previous works (and using a nominal neutron star remnant mass). The resulting distribution spans $3.6-40$ M${}_{\odot }$, with a sharp decline at lower masses, and is best fit by a broken power law described by $\mathrm{d}N/\mathrm{dlog}M\propto M^{-0.41\pm 0.06}$ at $3.6-8.6$ M${}_{\odot }$ and $\propto M^{-1.26\pm 0.06}$ at $8.6-40$ M${}_{\odot }$. We find that observational selection effects cannot account for the shape of the distribution. Relative to Type Ib/c SNe, the SLSN mass distribution extends to much larger masses and has a different power-law shape, likely indicating that the formation of a magnetar allows more massive stars to explode as some of the rotational energy accelerates the ejecta. Comparing the SLSN distribution with predictions from single and binary star evolution models, we find that binary models for a metallicity of $Z\lesssim 1/3$ Z${}_{\odot }$ are best able to reproduce its broad shape, in agreement with the preference of SLSNe for low metallicity environments. Finally, we uncover a correlation between the pre-explosion mass and the magnetar initial spin period, where SLSNe with low masses have slower spins, a trend broadly consistent with the effects of angular momentum transport evident in models of rapidly-rotating carbon-oxygen stars.

arXiv comment18 pages, 11 figures, Submitted to ApJ

References in corpus (95)

• How Massive Single Stars End their Life
• Binary interaction dominates the evolution of massive stars
• The Nucleosynthetic Signature of Population III
• Masses, Radii, and Equation of State of Neutron Stars
• Core-Collapse Supernovae from 9 to 120 Solar Masses Based on Neutrino-powered Explosions
• Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis Version 2.1: construction, observational verification and new results
• The Progenitor Stars of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Presupernova Evolution of Differentially Rotating Massive Stars Including Magnetic Fields
• Supernova Light Curves Powered by Young Magnetars
• Pulsational Pair-Instability Supernovae
• A `Hypernova' model for SN 1998bw associated with gamma-ray burst of 25 April 1998
• Luminous Supernovae
• Evolution of rapidly rotating metal-poor massive stars towards gamma-ray bursts
• Reevaluating Old Stellar Populations
• The rotation rates of massive stars: the role of binary interaction through tides, mass transfer and mergers
• Hydrogen-poor superluminous stellar explosions
• Bright Supernovae from Magnetar Birth
• Single star progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts I: Model grids and redshift dependent GRB rate
• Supernova 2007bi as a pair-instability explosion
• Shock Breakout in Dense Mass Loss: Luminous Supernovae
• The First Systematic Study of Type Ibc Supernova Multi-band Light Curves
• Super Luminous Ic Supernovae: catching a magnetar by the tail
• An Open Catalog for Supernova Data
• Bolometric light curves and explosion parameters of 38 stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae
• A very luminous magnetar-powered supernova associated with an ultra-long gamma-ray burst
• Slowly fading super-luminous supernovae that are not pair-instability explosions
• The magnetar model for Type I superluminous supernovae I: Bayesian analysis of the full multicolour light curve sample with MOSFiT
• SN 2005ap: A Most Brilliant Explosion
• Supernova Light Curves Powered by Fallback Accretion
• Analytical Light Curve Models of Super-Luminous Supernovae: chi^2-Minimizations of Parameter Fits
• Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernovae and Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts Have Similar Host Galaxies
• High Resolution Study of Presupernova Compactness
• The Evolution of Massive Helium Stars Including Mass Loss
• Ultra-bright optical transients are linked with type Ic supernovae
• MOSFiT: Modular Open-Source Fitter for Transients
• Spectroscopy of superluminous supernova host galaxies. A preference of hydrogen-poor events for extreme emission line galaxies
• Super-luminous supernovae: 56Ni power versus magnetar radiation
• Host-Galaxy Properties of 32 Low-Redshift Superluminous Supernovae from the Palomar Transient Factory
• Pan-STARRS1 Discovery of Two Ultra-Luminous Supernovae at z ~ 0.9
• On the diversity of super-luminous supernovae: ejected mass as the dominant factor
• The Carnegie Supernova Project I: analysis of stripped-envelope supernova light curves
• The Explosion of Helium Stars Evolved With Mass Loss
• Effects of Rotation on the Minimum Mass of Primordial Progenitors of Pair Instability Supernovae
• Cosmic evolution and metal aversion in super-luminous supernova host galaxies
• SN 2006oz: rise of a super-luminous supernova observed by the SDSS-II SN Survey
• SN 2015bn: a detailed multi-wavelength view of a nearby superluminous supernova
• Super-luminous supernovae from PESSTO
• Investigating the properties of stripped-envelope supernovae, what are the implications for their progenitors?
• Spectrum formation in Superluminous Supernovae (Type I)
• Light curves of hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernovae from the Palomar Transient Factory
• Detection of Broad H$\alpha$ Emission Lines in the Late-time Spectra of a Hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernova
• Discovery of an Unusual Optical Transient with the Hubble Space Telescope
• Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernovae from the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey
• LSQ14bdq: A Type Ic super-luminous supernova with a double-peaked light curve
• The host galaxy and late-time evolution of the Super-Luminous Supernova PTF12dam
• Hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernovae With Late-time H-alpha Emission: Three Events From the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory
• The hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova iPTF13ajg and its host galaxy in absorption and emission
• Two superluminous supernovae from the early universe discovered by the Supernova Legacy Survey
• Superluminous supernova 2015bn in the nebular phase: evidence for the engine-powered explosion of a stripped massive star
• Related progenitor models for long-duration gamma ray bursts and Type Ic superluminous supernovae
• Superluminous Supernovae from the Dark Energy Survey
• The Volumetric Rate of Superluminous Supernovae at z~1
• DES14X3taz: A Type I Superluminous Supernova Showing a Luminous, Rapidly Cooling Initial Pre-Peak Bump
• Complexity in the light curves and spectra of slow-evolving superluminous supernovae
• PS1-10bzj: A Fast, Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernova in a Metal Poor Host Galaxy
• SN 2012au: A Golden Link Between Superluminous Supernovae and Their Lower-Luminosity Counterparts
• Analyzing the Largest Spectroscopic Dataset of Hydrogen-Poor Super-Luminous Supernovae
• The host galaxy of the super-luminous SN 2010gx and limits on explosive nickel-56 production
• Seeing double: the frequency and detectability of double-peaked superluminous supernova light curves
• PS1-14bj: A Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernova With a Long Rise and Slow Decay
• Selecting superluminous supernovae in faint galaxies from the first year of the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey
• Far-Ultraviolet to Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of A Nearby Hydrogen Poor Superluminous Supernova Gaia16apd
• An ultraviolet excess in the superluminous supernova Gaia16apd reveals a powerful central engine
• On the early-time excess emission in hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae
• A statistical study of super-luminous supernovae in the magnetar engine model and implications for their connection with gamma-ray bursts and hypernovae
• The superluminous supernova PS1-11ap: bridging the gap between low and high redshift
• Nebular spectra of pair-instability supernovae
• Nebular-phase spectra of superluminous supernovae: physical insights from observational and statistical properties
• Magnetar-powered superluminous supernovae must first be exploded by jets
• A Radio Source Coincident with the Superluminous Supernova PTF10hgi: Evidence for a Central Engine and an Analogue of the Repeating FRB121102?
• Ultra-Luminous Supernovae as a New Probe of the Interstellar Medium in Distant Galaxies
• DES13S2cmm: The First Superluminous Supernova from the Dark Energy Survey
• The evolution of superluminous supernova LSQ14mo and its interacting host galaxy system
• The very energetic, broad-lined type Ic Supernova 2010ah (PTF10bzf) in the context of GRB/SNe
• Long Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitors: Boundary Conditions and Binary Models
• Superluminous Supernovae in LSST: Rates, Detection Metrics, and Light Curve Modeling
• Angular momentum transport in massive stars and natal neutron star rotation rates
• Highly Luminous Supernovae associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts I.: GRB 111209A/SN 2011kl in the Context of Stripped-Envelope and Superluminous Supernovae
• Systematic investigation of the fallback accretion powered model for hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae
• A Monte Carlo Approach to Magnetar-powered Transients: I. Hydrogen-deficient Superluminous Supernovae
• One thousand days of SN 2015bn: HST imaging shows a light curve flattening consistent with magnetar predictions
• SN 2016iet: The Pulsational or Pair Instability Explosion of a Low Metallicity Massive CO Core Embedded in a Dense Hydrogen-Poor Circumstellar Medium
• Far-UV HST Spectroscopy of An Unusual Hydrogen Poor Superluminous Supernova: SN2017egm
• A Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernova with Enhanced Iron-Group Absorption: A New Link Between SLSNe and Broad-Lined Type Ic SNe
• The Type I Superluminous Supernova PS16aqv: Lightcurve Complexity and Deep Limits on Radioactive Ejecta in a Fast Event

Cited by in corpus (32)

• The Science of the Einstein Telescope
• The Type Icn SN 2021csp: Implications for the Origins of the Fastest Supernovae and the Fates of Wolf-Rayet Stars
• The spins of compact objects born from helium stars in binary systems
• The Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernovae from the Zwicky Transient Facility Phase-I Survey: II. Light Curve Modeling and Characterization of Undulations
• Bumpy Declining Light Curves Are Common in Hydrogen-poor Superluminous Supernovae
• Localized FRBs are Consistent with Magnetar Progenitors Formed in Core-Collapse Supernovae
• Pre-collapse Properties of Superluminous Supernovae and Long Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitor Models
• Superluminous supernovae: an explosive decade
• Luminous Supernovae: Unveiling a Population Between Superluminous and Normal Core-collapse Supernovae
• A massive helium star with a sufficiently strong magnetic field to form a magnetar
• Late-Time Radio and Millimeter Observations of Superluminous Supernovae and Long Gamma Ray Bursts: Implications for Obscured Star Formation, Central Engines, and Fast Radio Bursts
• FLEET: A Redshift-Agnostic Machine Learning Pipeline to Rapidly Identify Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernovae
• Thermonuclear Explosions and Accretion-induced Collapses of White Dwarfs in Active Galactic Nucleus Accretion Disks
• Magnetar Engines in Fast Blue Optical Transients and Their Connections with SLSNe, SNe Ic-BL, and lGRBs
• The Luminous and Double-Peaked Type Ic Supernova 2019stc: Evidence for Multiple Energy Sources
• Variable thermal energy injection from magnetar spin down as a possible cause of stripped-envelope supernova light-curve bumps
• A Generalized Semi-Analytic Model for Magnetar-Driven Supernovae
• Evaluating chemically homogeneous evolution in stellar binaries: Electromagnetic implications -- Ionizing photons, SLSN-I, GRB, Ic-BL
• Magnetar Models of Superluminous Supernovae from the Dark Energy Survey: Exploring Redshift Evolution
• Optical polarization and spectral properties of the H-poor superluminous supernovae SN 2021bnw and SN 2021fpl
• The First Two Years of FLEET: an Active Search for Superluminous Supernovae
• Post maximum light and late time optical imaging polarimetry of type I superluminous supernova 2020znr
• A Precursor Plateau and Pre-Maximum [O II] Emission in the Superluminous SN2019szu: A Pulsational Pair-Instability Candidate
• Photometrically-Classified Superluminous Supernovae from the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey: A Case Study for Science with Machine Learning-Based Classification
• Progenitors of Long-Duration Gamma-ray Bursts
• SN 2020zbf: A fast-rising hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova with strong carbon lines
• JWST Discovery of a High-Redshift Tidal Disruption Event Candidate in COSMOS-Web
• Eruptive mass loss less than a year before the explosion of superluminous supernovae: I. The cases of SN 2020xga and SN 2022xgc
• Optical Observations and Modeling of the Superluminous Supernova 2018lfe
• Gamma-ray signature of superluminous supernovae: Fermi-LAT GeV detection of SN 2017egm and evidence of a central engine
• Late-Time Hubble Space Telescope Observations of a Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernova Reveal the Power-Law Decline of a Magnetar Central Engine
• Discovering Supernovae at Epoch of Reionization with Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope