The Late-Time Light Curves of Type Ia Supernovae: Confronting Models with Observations

Abstract

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) play a crucial role as standardizable candles in measurements of the Hubble constant and dark energy. Increasing evidence points towards multiple possible explosion channels as the origin of normal SNe Ia, with possible systematic effects on the determination of cosmological parameters. We present, for the first time, a comprehensive comparison of publicly-available SN Ia model nucleosynthetic data with observations of late-time light curve observations of SN Ia events. These models span a wide range of white dwarf (WD) progenitor masses, metallicities, explosion channels, and numerical methodologies. We focus on the influence of ${}^{57}$Ni and its isobaric decay product ${}^{57}$Co in powering the late-time ($t>1000$ d) light curves of SNe Ia. ${}^{57}$Ni and ${}^{57}$Co are neutron-rich relative to the more abundant radioisotope ${}^{56}$Ni, and are consequently a sensitive probe of neutronization at the higher densities of near-Chandrashekhar (near-$M_{\mathrm{Ch}}$) progenitor WDs. We demonstrate that observations of one SN Ia event, SN 2015F is only consistent with a sub-$M_{\mathrm{Ch}}$ WD progenitor. Observations of four other events (SN 2011fe, SN 2012cg, SN 2014J, SN2013aa) are consistent with both near-$M_{\mathrm{Ch}}$ and sub-$M_{\mathrm{Ch}}$ progenitors. Continued observations of late-time light curves of nearby SNe Ia will provide crucial information on the nature of the SN Ia progenitors.

13 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Comments welcome!

References in corpus (31)

• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• Constraining the Type Ia Supernova Progenitor: The Search for Hydrogen in Nebular Spectra
• A Chandrasekhar Mass Progenitor for the Type Ia Supernova Remnant 3C 397 from The Enhanced Abundances of Nickel and Manganese
• No surviving evolved companions to the progenitor of supernova SN 1006
• Origin of Cosmic Rays
• Constraints on the Progenitor System of the Type Ia Supernova 2014J from Pre-Explosion Hubble Space Telescope Imaging
• Neutronization During Type Ia Supernova Simmering
• The light curve of SN 1987A revisited: constraining production masses of radioactive nuclides
• The Reduction of the Electron Abundance during the Pre-explosion Simmering in White Dwarf Supernovae
• Sensitivity study of explosive nucleosynthesis in Type Ia supernovae: I. Modification of individual thermonuclear reaction rates
• Wait for it: Post-supernova winds driven by delayed radioactive decays
• Sub-Chandrasekhar progenitors favoured for type Ia supernovae: Evidence from late-time spectroscopy
• H-$\alpha$ emission in the nebular spectrum of the Type Ia supernova ASASSN-18tb
• Manganese Indicates a Transition from Sub- to Near-Chandrasekhar Type Ia Supernovae in Dwarf Galaxies
• A Search for the Progenitors of Two Type-Ia Supernovae in NGC 1316
• Single-Degenerate Type Ia Supernovae Are Preferentially Overluminous
• Observational constraints on the origin of the elements. III. Evidence for the dominant role of sub-Chandrasekhar SN Ia in the chemical evolution of Mn and Fe in the Galaxy
• Mid-IR Spectra of Type Ia SN 2014J in M82 Spanning the First Four Months
• Progenitor constraints on the Type-Ia supernova SN2011fe from pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope HeII narrow-band observations
• The white dwarf's carbon fraction as a secondary parameter of Type Ia supernovae
• Light Echoes From Supernova 2014J in M82
• Extremely late photometry of SN~2011fe
• Interstellar-Medium Mapping in M82 Through Light Echoes Around Supernova 2014J
• Chemical abundances in Sgr A East: evidence for a Type Iax supernova remnant
• Exploring an Alternative Channel of Evolution Towards SNa Ia Explosion
• Discovery of the Highly-Neutronized Ejecta Clump with Enhanced Abundances of Titanium and Chromium in the Type Ia Supernova Remnant 3C 397
• Sensitivity of Type Ia supernovae to electron capture rates
• Normal type Ia supernovae from disruptions of hybrid He-CO white-dwarfs by CO white-dwarfs
• A year-long plateau in the late-time near-infrared light curves of Type Ia supernovae
• Constraints on the density distribution of type Ia supernovae ejecta inferred from late-time light-curve flattening
• Blast From the Past: Constraining Progenitor Models of SN 1972E

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Type Ia Supernova Explosions in Binary Systems: A Review
• White dwarf -- red giant star binaries as Type Ia supernova progenitors: with and without magnetic confinement
• The core degenerate scenario for the type Ia supernova SN 2020eyj
• Primordial Black Hole Triggered Type Ia Supernovae I: Impact on Explosion Dynamics and Light Curves
• Plasma Instabilities Dominate Radioactive Transients Magnetic Fields: The self-confinement of leptons in Type Ia and Core-Collapse Supernovae, and Kilonovae
• Deciphering the explosion mechanism of Type Ia SNe using their remnants II: a deep dive into double detonations with SNR 0509-67.5
• Primordial Black Hole Triggered Type Ia Supernovae II: Comparison with Supernova Remnants and Galactic Chemical Evolution
• The evolution of relative frequencies of ONe and CO SNe Ia