ASASSN-18am/SN 2018gk : An overluminous Type IIb supernova from a massive progenitor

ASASSN-18am/SN 2018gk is a newly discovered member of the rare group of luminous, hydrogen-rich supernovae (SNe) with a peak absolute magnitude of $M_V approx -20$ mag that is in between normal core-collapse SNe and superluminous SNe. These SNe show no prominent spectroscopic signatures of ejecta interacting with circumstellar material (CSM), and their powering mechanism is debated. ASASSN-18am declines extremely rapidly for a Type II SN, with a photospheric-phase decline rate of $sim6.0~rm mag~(100 d)^{-1}$. Owing to the weakening of HI and the appearance of HeI in its later phases, ASASSN-18am is spectroscopically a Type IIb SN with a partially stripped envelope. However, its photometric and spectroscopic evolution show significant differences from typical SNe IIb. Using a radiative diffusion model, we find that the light curve requires a high synthesised $rm ^{56}Ni$ mass $M_{rm Ni} sim0.4~M_odot$ and ejecta with high kinetic energy $E_{rm kin} = (7-10) times10^{51} $ erg. Introducing a magnetar central engine still requires $M_{rm Ni} sim0.3~M_odot$ and $E_{rm kin}= 3times10^{51} $ erg. The high $rm ^{56}Ni$ mass is consistent with strong iron-group nebular lines in its spectra, which are also similar to several SNe Ic-BL with high $rm ^{56}Ni$ yields. The earliest spectrum shows flash ionisation features, from which we estimate a mass-loss rate of $ dot{M}approx 2times10^{-4}~rm M_odot~yr^{-1} $. This wind density is too low to power the luminous light curve by ejecta-CSM interaction. We measure expansion velocities as high as $ 17,000 $ km/s for $H_alpha$, which is remarkably high compared to other SNe II. We estimate an oxygen core mass of $1.8-3.4$ $M_odot$ using the [OI] luminosity measured from a nebular-phase spectrum, implying a progenitor with a zero-age main sequence mass of $19-26$ $M_odot$.