No Arabic abstract
Type Ia supernovae (SNe) are thought to originate from the thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs (WDs). The proposed progenitors of standard type Ia SNe have been studied for decades and can be, generally, divided into explosions of CO WDs accreting material from stellar non-degenerate companions (single-degenerate; SD models), and those arising from the explosive interaction of two CO WDs (double-degenerate; DD models). However, current models for the progenitors of such SNe fail to reproduce the diverse properties of the observed explosions, nor do they explain the inferred rates and the characteristics of the observed populations of type Ia SNe and their expected progenitors. Here we show that the little-studied mergers of CO-WDs with hybrid Helium-CO (He-CO) WDs can provide for a significant fraction of the normal type Ia SNe. Here we use detailed thermonuclear-hydrodynamical and radiative-transfer models to show that a wide range of mergers of CO WDs with hybrid He-CO WDs can give rise to normal type Ia SNe. We find that such He-enriched mergers give rise to explosions for which the synthetic light-curves and spectra resemble those of observed type Ia SNe, and in particular, they can produce a wide range of peak-luminosities, MB(MR)~ 18.4 to 19.2 (~ 18.5 to 19:45), consistent with those observed for normal type Ia SNe. Moreover, our population synthesis models show that, together with the contribution from mergers of massive double CO-WDs (producing the more luminous SNe), they can potentially reproduce the full range of type Ia SNe, their rate and delay-time distribution.
Merging white dwarfs are a possible progenitor of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). While it is not entirely clear if and when an explosion is triggered in such systems, numerical models suggest that a detonation might be initiated before the stars have coalesced to form a single compact object. Here we study such peri-merger detonations by means of numerical simulations, modeling the disruption and nucleosynthesis of the stars until the ejecta reach the coasting phase. Synthetic light curves and spectra are generated for comparison with observations. Three models are considered with primary masses 0.96 Msun, 1.06 Msun, and 1.20 Msun. Of these, the 0.96 Msun dwarf merging with an 0.81 Msun companion, with a Ni56 yield of 0.58 Msun, is the most promising candidate for reproducing common SNe Ia. The more massive mergers produce unusually luminous SNe Ia with peak luminosities approaching those attributed to super-Chandrasekhar mass SNe Ia. While the synthetic light curves and spectra of some of the models resemble observed SNe Ia, the significant asymmetry of the ejecta leads to large orientation effects. The peak bolometric luminosity varies by more than a factor of 2 with the viewing angle, and the velocities of the spectral absorption features are lower when observed from angles where the light curve is brightest. The largest orientation effects are seen in the ultraviolet, where the flux varies by more than an order of magnitude. Despite the large variation with viewing angle, the set of three models roughly obeys a width-luminosity relation, with the brighter light curves declining more slowly in the B-band. Spectral features due to unburned carbon from the secondary star are also seen in some cases.
Merging carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs are a promising progenitor system for Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia), but the underlying physics and timing of the detonation are still debated. If an explosion occurs after the secondary star is fully disrupted, the exploding primary will expand into a dense CO medium that may still have a disk-like structure. This interaction will decelerate and distort the ejecta. Here we carry out multi-dimensional simulations of ``tamped SN Ia models, using both particle and grid-based codes to study the merger and explosion dynamics, and a radiative transfer code to calculate synthetic spectra and light curves. We find that post-merger explosions exhibit an hourglass-shaped asymmetry, leading to strong variations in the light curves with viewing angle. The two most important factors affecting the outcome are the scale-height of the disk, which depends sensitively on the binary mass ratio, and the total ${}^{56}$Ni yield, which is governed by the central density of the remnant core. The synthetic broadband light curves rise and decline very slowly, and the spectra generally look peculiar, with weak features from intermediate mass elements but relatively strong carbon absorption. We also consider the effects of the viscous evolution of the remnant, and show that a longer time delay between merger and explosion probably leads to larger ${}^{56}$Ni yields and more symmetrical remnants. We discuss the relevance of this class of aspherical ``tamped SN Ia for explaining the class of ``super-Chandrasekhar SN Ia.
The carbon-oxygen white dwarf (CO WD) + He star channel has been thought to be one of the promising scnarios to produce young type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Previous studies found that if the mass-accretion rate is greater than a critical value, the He-accreting CO WD will undergo inwardly propagating (off-centre) carbon ignition when it increases its mass close to the Chandrasekhar limit. The inwardly propagating carbon flame was supposed to reach the centre by previous works, leading to the production of an oxygen-neon (ONe) WD that may collapse into a neutron star but not an SN Ia. However, it is still uncertain how the carbon flame propagates under the effect of mixing mechanisms. In the present work, we aim to investigate the off-centre carbon burning of the He-accreting CO WDs by considering the effect of convective mixing. We found that the temperature of the flame is high enough to burn the carbon into silicon-group elements in the outer part of the CO core even if the convective overshooting is considered, but the flame would quench somewhere inside the WD, resulting in the formation of a C-O-Si WD. Owing to the inefficiency of thermohaline mixing, the C-O-Si WD may explode as an SN Ia if it continues to grow in mass. Our radiation transfer simulations show that the SN ejecta with the silicon-rich outer layer will form high-velocity absorption lines in Si II, leading to some similarities to a class of the high-velocity SNe Ia in the spectral evolution. We estimate that the birthrate of SNe Ia with Si-rich envelope is ~ 10^(-4)/yr in our galaxy.
The violent merger of two carbon-oxygen white dwarfs has been proposed as a viable progenitor for some Type Ia supernovae. However, it has been argued that the strong ejecta asymmetries produced by this model might be inconsistent with the low degree of polarisation typically observed in Type Ia supernova explosions. Here, we test this claim by carrying out a spectropolarimetric analysis for the model proposed by Pakmor et al. (2012) for an explosion triggered during the merger of a 1.1 M$_{odot}$ and 0.9 M$_{odot}$ carbon-oxygen white dwarf binary system. Owing to the asymmetries of the ejecta, the polarisation signal varies significantly with viewing angle. We find that polarisation levels for observers in the equatorial plane are modest ($lesssim$ 1 per cent) and show clear evidence for a dominant axis, as a consequence of the ejecta symmetry about the orbital plane. In contrast, orientations out of the plane are associated with higher degrees of polarisation and departures from a dominant axis. While the particular model studied here gives a good match to highly-polarised events such as SN 2004dt, it has difficulties in reproducing the low polarisation levels commonly observed in normal Type Ia supernovae. Specifically, we find that significant asymmetries in the element distribution result in a wealth of strong polarisation features that are not observed in the majority of currently available spectropolarimetric data of Type Ia supernovae. Future studies will map out the parameter space of the merger scenario to investigate if alternative models can provide better agreement with observations.
White dwarfs (WDs) are the stellar core remnants of low mass stars. They are typically divided into three main composition groups: Oxygen Neon (ONe), Carbon Oxygen (CO) and Helium (He) WDs. The evolution of binary systems can significantly change the evolution of the binary stellar components. In particular, striping the envelope of an evolved star can give rise to a core remnant, which can later evolve into a WD with significantly different composition. Here we focus on the formation and evolution of hybrid HeCO WDs. We follow the formation and stellar evolution of such WDs for a range of initial conditions and provide their detailed structure, mass-radius relation and luminosity temperature evolution. We find that both low mass WDs (< 0.45M , typically thought to be He WDs) and intermediate-mass WDs (0.45 < MWD < 0.7, typically thought to be CO WDs) could in fact be hybrid HeCO WDs, with 5-25 (75 -95)% of their mass in He (CO). We use population synthesis calculations to infer the birth rate and properties of such WDs. We find that hybrid HeCO WD comprise the majority of young (< 2Gyr) WDs in binaries, but are more rare among older WDs in binaries. The high frequency and large He content of such WDs could have an important role in WD WD mergers, and may give rise to sub Chandrasekhar thermonuclear supernova explosions.