No Arabic abstract
Long duration gamma-ray bursts are a rare subclass of stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae that launch collimated relativistic outflows (jets). All gamma-ray-burst-associated supernovae are spectroscopically of Type Ic with broad lines, but the fraction of broad-lined Type Ic supernovae harboring low-luminosity gamma-ray-burst remains largely unconstrained. Some supernovae should be accompanied by off-axis $gamma$-ray burst jets that remain invisible initially, but then emerge as strong radio sources (as the jets decelerate). However, this critical prediction of the jet model for gamma-ray bursts has yet to be verified observationally. Here, we present K. G. Jansky Very Large Array observations of 15 broad-lined supernovae of Type Ic discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory in an untargeted manner. Most of the supernovae in our sample exclude radio emission observationally similar to that of the radio-loud, relativistic SN,1998bw. We constrain the fraction of 1998bw-like broad-lined Type Ic supernovae to be <~ 41% (99.865% confidence). Most of the events in our sample also exclude off-axis jets similar to GRB 031203 and GRB 030329, but we cannot rule out off-axis gamma-ray-bursts expanding in a low-density wind environment. Three supernovae in our sample are detected in the radio. PTF11qcj and PTF14dby show late-time radio emission with average ejecta speeds of ~(0.3-0.4)c, on the dividing line between relativistic and ordinary supernovae. The speed of PTF11cmh radio ejecta is poorly constrained. We estimate that <~ 85% (99.865% confidence) of the broad-lined Type Ic supernovae in our sample may harbor off-axis $gamma$-ray-bursts expanding in media with densities in the range probed by this study.
We present ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared observations of SN 2012ap, a broad-lined Type Ic supernova in the galaxy NGC 1729 that produced a relativistic and rapidly decelerating outflow without a gamma-ray burst signature. Photometry and spectroscopy follow the flux evolution from -13 to +272 days past the B-band maximum of -17.4 +/- 0.5 mag. The spectra are dominated by Fe II, O I, and Ca II absorption lines at ejecta velocities of 20,000 km/s that change slowly over time. Other spectral absorption lines are consistent with contributions from photospheric He I, and hydrogen may also be present at higher velocities (> 27,000 km/s). We use these observations to estimate explosion properties and derive a total ejecta mass of 2.7 Msolar, a kinetic energy of 1.0x10^{52} erg, and a 56Ni mass of 0.1-0.2 Msolar. Nebular spectra (t > 200d) exhibit an asymmetric double-peaked [OI] 6300,6364 emission profile that we associate with absorption in the supernova interior, although toroidal ejecta geometry is an alternative explanation. SN 2012ap joins SN 2009bb as another exceptional supernova that shows evidence for a central engine (e.g., black-hole accretion or magnetar) capable of launching a non-negligible portion of ejecta to relativistic velocities without a coincident gamma-ray burst detection. Defining attributes of their progenitor systems may be related to notable properties including above-average environmental metallicities of Z > Zsolar, moderate to high levels of host-galaxy extinction (E(B-V) > 0.4 mag), detection of high-velocity helium at early epochs, and a high relative flux ratio of [Ca II]/[O I] > 1 at nebular epochs. These events support the notion that jet activity at various energy scales may be present in a wide range of supernovae.
A subset of type Ic supernovae (SNe Ic), broad-lined SNe Ic (SNe Ic-bl), show unusually high kinetic energies ($sim 10^{52}$ erg) which cannot be explained by the energy supplied by neutrinos alone. Many SNe Ic-bl have been observed in coincidence with long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) which suggests a connection between SNe and GRBs. A small fraction of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) form a rapidly-rotating and strongly-magnetized protoneutron star (PNS), a proto-magnetar. Jets from such magnetars can provide the high kinetic energies observed in SNe Ic-bl and also provide the connection to GRBs. In this work we use the jetted outflow produced in a 3D CCSN simulation from a consistently formed proto-magnetar as the central engine for full-star explosion simulations. We extract a range of central engine parameters and find that the extracted engine energy is in the range of $6.231 times 10^{51}-1.725 times 10^{52}$ erg, the engine time-scale in the range of $0.479-1.159$ s and the engine half-opening angle in the range of $sim 9-19^{circ}$. Using these as central engines, we perform 2D special-relativistic (SR) hydrodynamic (HD) and radiation transfer simulations to calculate the corresponding light curves and spectra. We find that these central engine parameters successfully produce SNe Ic-bl which demonstrates that jets from proto-magnetars can be viable engines for SNe Ic-bl. We also find that only the central engines with smaller opening angles ($sim 10^{circ}$) form a GRB implying that GRB formation is likely associated with narrower jet outflows and Ic-bls without GRBs may be associated with wider outflows.
Unlike the ordinary supernovae (SNe) some of which are hydrogen and helium deficient (called Type Ic SNe), broad-lined Type Ic SNe (SNe Ic-bl) are very energetic events, and all SNe coincident with bona fide long duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are of Type Ic-bl. Understanding the progenitors and the mechanism driving SN Ic-bl explosions vs those of their SNe Ic cousins is key to understanding the SN-GRB relationship and jet production in massive stars. Here we present the largest set of host-galaxy spectra of 28 SNe Ic and 14 SN Ic-bl, all discovered before 2013 by the same untargeted survey, namely the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We carefully measure their gas-phase metallicities, stellar masses (M*s) and star-formation rates (SFRs) by taking into account recent progress in the metallicity field and propagating uncertainties correctly. We further re-analyze the hosts of 10 literature SN-GRBs using the same methods and compare them to our PTF SN hosts with the goal of constraining their progenitors from their local environments by conducting a thorough statistical comparison, including upper limits. We find that the metallicities, SFRs and M*s of our PTF SN Ic-bl hosts are statistically comparable to those of SN-GRBs, but significantly lower than those of the PTF SNe Ic. The mass-metallicity relations as defined by the SNe Ic-bl and SN-GRBs are not significantly different from the same relations as defined by the SDSS galaxies, in contrast to claims by earlier works. Our findings point towards low metallicity as a crucial ingredient for SN Ic-bl and SN-GRB production since we are able to break the degeneracy between high SFR and low metallicity. We suggest that the PTF SNe Ic-bl may have produced jets that were choked inside the star or were able break out of the star as unseen low-luminosity or off-axis GRBs.
We study 34 Type Ic supernovae that have broad spectral features (SNe Ic-BL). We obtained our photometric data with the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and its continuation, the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF). This is the first large, homogeneous sample of SNe Ic-BL from an untargeted survey. Furthermore, given the high cadence of (i)PTF, most of these SNe were discovered soon after explosion. We present K-corrected $Bgriz$ light curves of these SNe, obtained through photometry on template-subtracted images. We analyzed the shape of the $r$-band light curves, finding a correlation between the decline parameter $Delta m_{15}$ and the rise parameter $Delta m_{-10}$. We studied the SN colors and, based on $g-r$, we estimated the host-galaxy extinction. Peak $r$-band absolute magnitudes have an average of $-18.6pm0.5$ mag. We fit each $r$-band light curve with that of SN 1998bw (scaled and stretched) to derive the explosion epochs. We computed the bolometric light curves using bolometric corrections, $r$-band data, and $g-r$ colors. Expansion velocities from Fe II were obtained by fitting spectral templates of SNe Ic. Bolometric light curves and velocities at peak were fitted using the semianalytic Arnett model to estimate ejecta mass $M_{rm ej}$, explosion energy $E_{K}$ and $^{56}$Ni mass $M(^{56}$Ni). We find average values of $M_{rm ej} = 4pm3~{rm M}_{odot}$, $E_{K} = (7pm6) times 10^{51}~$erg, and $M(^{56}$Ni) $= 0.31pm0.16~{rm M}_{odot}$. We also estimated the degree of $^{56}$Ni mixing using scaling relations derived from hydrodynamical models and we find that all the SNe are strongly mixed. The derived explosion parameters imply that at least 21% of the progenitors of SNe Ic-BL are compatible with massive ($>28~{rm M}_{odot}$), possibly single stars, whereas at least 64% might come from less massive stars in close binary systems.
Many young, massive stars are found in close binaries. Using population synthesis simulations we predict the likelihood of a companion star being present when these massive stars end their lives as core-collapse supernovae (SNe). We focus on stripped-envelope SNe, whose progenitors have lost their outer hydrogen and possibly helium layers before explosion. We use these results to interpret new Hubble Space Telescope observations of the site of the broad-lined Type Ic SN 2002ap, 14 years post-explosion. For a subsolar metallicity consistent with SN 2002ap, we expect a main-sequence companion present in about two thirds of all stripped-envelope SNe and a compact companion (likely a stripped helium star or a white dwarf/neutron star/black hole) in about 5% of cases. About a quarter of progenitors are single at explosion (originating from initially single stars, mergers or disrupted systems). All the latter scenarios require a massive progenitor, inconsistent with earlier studies of SN 2002ap. Our new, deeper upper limits exclude the presence of a main-sequence companion star $>8$-$10$ Msun, ruling out about 40% of all stripped-envelope SN channels. The most likely scenario for SN 2002ap includes nonconservative binary interaction of a primary star initially $lesssim 23$ Msun. Although unlikely ($<$1% of the scenarios), we also discuss the possibility of an exotic reverse merger channel for broad-lined Type Ic events. Finally, we explore how our results depend on the metallicity and the model assumptions and discuss how additional searches for companions can constrain the physics that governs the evolution of SN progenitors.