August 11-15, 2014

Abstract

Constraints on the explosion mechanism and progenitors of Type Ia supernovae

Stéphane Blondin (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille)

Luc Dessart (Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur), D. John Hillier (Univ. Pittsburgh), Alexei Khokhlov (Univ. Chicago)

The observed outcome of the explosion of a Chandrasekhar-mass C/O White Dwarf star (i.e. a Type Ia supernova, or SN Ia) is largely determined by the amount of 56Ni synthesized during the explosion. It is thus thought that the emergent radiation bares no signature of the initial state of the WD prior to explosion. Based on time-dependent non-LTE radiative-transfer simulations of SN Ia, we show that explosions involving a strong pulsation leave their mark on early-time light curves and spectra. Such pulsations could result from the explosion itself, or from departures from hydrostatic equilibrium in the progenitor WD prior to explosion. More importantly, the resulting interaction may mimick the situation that arises in WD-WD mergers where the secondary WD is disrupted during coalescence.

Mode of presentation: poster