Triple evolution: an important channel in the formation of type Ia supernovae

Abstract

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thought to be the result of thermonuclear explosions in white dwarfs (WDs). Commonly considered formation pathways include two merging WDs (the double degenerate channel), and a single WD accreting material from a H or He donor (the single degenerate channel). Since the predicted SNe Ia rates from WD in binaries are thought to be insufficient to explain the observed SNe Ia rate, it is important to study similar interactions in higher-order multiple star systems such as triple systems. We use the evolutionary population synthesis code Multiple Stellar Evolution (MSE) to study stellar evolution, binary interactions and gravitational dynamics of the triple-star systems. Also, unlike previous studies, prescriptions are included to simultaneously take into account the single and double degenerate channels, and we consider triples across the entire parameter space (including those with tight inner binaries). We explore the impact of typically ignored or uncertain physics such as fly-bys and CE prescription parameters on our results. The majority of systems undergo circular mergers to explode as SNe Ia, while eccentric collisions contribute to $0.4-4$ per cent of SNe Ia events. The time-integrated SNe Ia rate from the triple channel is found to be $(3.60\pm 0.04)\times 10^{-4}{{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }}^{-1}$ which is, surprisingly, similar to that of the isolated binary channel where the SNe Ia rate is $(3.2\pm 0.1)\times 10^{-4}{{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }}^{-1}$. This implies that triples, when considering their entire parameter space, yield an important contribution to the overall SNe Ia rate.

arXiv commentaccepted for Publication in APJ

References in corpus (51)

• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• Evolution of binary stars and the effect of tides on binary populations
• A Survey of Stellar Families: Multiplicity of Solar-Type Stars
• Comprehensive analytic formulae for stellar evolution as a function of mass and metallicity
• Shrinking binary and planetary orbits by Kozai cycles with tidal friction
• Mind your Ps and Qs: the Interrelation between Period (P) and Mass-ratio (Q) Distributions of Binary Stars
• Observational clues to the progenitors of Type-Ia supernovae
• The Eccentric Kozai-Lidov Effect and Its Applications
• Evolution in Binary and Triple Stars, with an application to SS Lac
• Sub-luminous type Ia supernovae from the mergers of equal-mass white dwarfs with M~0.9 M_sun
• Progenitors of type Ia supernovae
• The Equilibrium-Tide Model for Tidal Friction
• The Kozai Mechanism and the Evolution of Binary Supermassive Black Holes
• Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass Models For Type Ia Supernovae
• Accelerating Compact Object Mergers in Triple Systems with the Kozai Resonance: A Mechanism for "Prompt" Type Ia Supernovae, Gamma-Ray Bursts, and Other Exotica
• Helium-ignited violent mergers as a unified model for normal and rapidly declining Type Ia Supernovae
• The delay-time distribution of type-Ia supernovae from Sloan II
• Theoretical uncertainties of the type Ia supernova rate
• On the evolution of rapidly rotating massive white dwarfs towards supernovae or collapses
• Black hole triple dynamics: breakdown of the orbit average approximation and implications for gravitational wave detections
• The Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae
• On the Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae
• Star formation, supernovae, iron, and alpha: consistent cosmic and Galactic histories
• Rapid Eccentricity Oscillations and the Mergers of Compact Objects in Hierarchical Triples
• The Updated Multiple Star Catalog
• Delay Times and Rates for Type Ia Supernovae and Thermonuclear Explosions from Double-detonation Sub-Chandrasekhar Mass Models
• Presupernova evolution of accreting white dwarfs with rotation
• Mass accumulation efficiency in helium shell flashes for various white dwarf masses
• The evolution of stellar triples: The most common evolutionary pathways
• Population synthesis of triple systems in the context of mergers of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs
• He-Accreting WDs: accretion regimes and final outcomes
• Double-Averaging Can Fail to Characterize the Long-Term Evolution of Lidov-Kozai Cycles & Derivation of an Analytical Correction
• Secular dynamics of hierarchical multiple systems composed of nested binaries, with an arbitrary number of bodies and arbitrary hierarchical structure. First applications to multiplanet and multistar systems
• Type Ia Supernovae with Bi-Modal Explosions Are Common -- Possible Smoking Gun for Direct Collisions of White-Dwarfs
• The rate of WD-WD head-on collisions in isolated triples is too low to explain standard type Ia supernovae
• Helium accreting CO white dwarfs with rotation: helium novae instead of double detonation
• Simulations of common envelope evolution in triple systems: Circumstellar case
• Multiple Stellar Evolution: a population synthesis algorithm to model the stellar, binary, and dynamical evolution of multiple-star systems
• An analytic model for mass transfer in binaries with arbitrary eccentricity, with applications to triple-star systems
• Type Ia Supernova Sub-classes and Progenitor Origin
• MSTAR -- a fast parallelised algorithmically regularised integrator with minimum spanning tree coordinates
• Secular dynamics of hierarchical multiple systems composed of nested binaries, with an arbitrary number of bodies and arbitrary hierarchical structure. II. External perturbations: flybys and supernovae
• Models for the evolution of close binaries with He-Star and WD components towards Type Ia supernova explosions
• The impact of white dwarf natal kicks and stellar flybys on the rates of Type Ia supernovae in triple-star systems
• A statistical view on stable and unstable Roche lobe overflow of a tertiary star onto the inner binary in triple systems
• Helium ignition in rotating magnetized CO white dwarfs leading to fast and faint rather than classical type Ia supernovae
• Masses of White Dwarf Binary Companions to Type Ia Supernovae Measured from Runaway Velocities
• The Evolution of Helium Star Plus Carbon-Oxygen White Dwarf Binary Systems and Implications for Diverse Stellar Transients and Hypervelocity Stars
• Secular dynamics of hierarchical multiple systems composed of nested binaries, with an arbitrary number of bodies and arbitrary hierarchical structure. III. Suborbital effects: hybrid integration techniques and orbit-averaging corrections
• Type Ia Supernovae from wide white-dwarfs triples
• Limits on a population of collisional-triples as progenitors of Type-Ia supernovae

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Type Ia Supernova Explosions in Binary Systems: A Review
• Ground-based and JWST Observations of SN 2022pul: II. Evidence from Nebular Spectroscopy for a Violent Merger in a Peculiar Type-Ia Supernova
• Galactic Chemical Evolution Models Favor an Extended Type Ia Supernova Delay-Time Distribution
• Trading oxygen for iron I: the [O/Fe] -- specific star formation rate relation of galaxies
• The Evolution of Binaries Embedded Within Common Envelopes
• A possible formation scenario of the Gaia ID 3425577610762832384: inner binary merger inside a triple common envelope
• The role of triple evolution in the formation of LISA double white dwarfs
• Unevolved Li-rich stars at low metallicity: a possible formation pathway through novae
• Producing type Ia supernovae from hybrid CONe white dwarfs with main-sequence binary companions at low metallicity of Z = 0.0001
• IK Pegasi and the Double-merger Path to Type Ia Supernovae
• MAUVE: An Ultraviolet Astrophysics Probe Mission Concept