SNR-calibrated Type Ia supernova models

Current Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) models can reproduce most visible+IR + UV observations. In the X-ray band, the determination of elemental abundance ratios in supernova remnants (SNRs) through their spectra has reached enough precision to constrain SN Ia models. Martínez-Rodríguez et al have shown that the Ca/S mass ratio in SNRs cannot be reproduced with the standard nuclear reaction rates for a wide variety of SN Ia models, and suggested that the 12C+16O reaction rate could be overestimated by a factor as high as ten. We show that the same Ca/S ratio can be obtained by simultaneously varying the rates of the reactions 12C + 16O, 12C + 12C, 16O + 16O, and 16O(¿, a)12C within the reported uncertainties. We also show that the yields of the main products of SN Ia nucleosynthesis do not depend on the details of which rates are modified, but can be parametrized by an observational quantity such as Ca/S. Using this SNR-calibrated approach, we then proceed to compute a new set of SN Ia models and nucleosynthesis for both Chandrasekhar and sub-Chandrasekhar mass progenitors with a 1D hydrodynamics and nucleosynthesis code. We discuss the nucleosynthesis of the models as a function of progenitor metallicity, mass, and deflagration-to-detonation transition density. The yields of each model are almost independent on the reaction rates modified for a common Ca/S ratio.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Evidence for a sub-Chandrasekhar-mass type Ia supernova in the Ursa Minor dwarf galaxys

A long-standing problem is identifying the elusive progenitors of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), which can roughly be split into Chandraksekhar and sub-Chandrasekhar-mass events. An important difference between these two cases is the nucleosynthetic yield, which is altered by the increased neutron excess in Chandrasekhar progenitors due to their pre-explosion simmering and high central density. Based on these arguments, we show that the chemical composition of the most metal-rich star in the Ursa Minor dwarf galaxy, COS 171, is dominated by nucleosynthesis from a low-metallicity, low-mass, sub-Chandrasekhar-mass SN Ia. Key diagnostic abundance ratios include Mn/Fe and Ni/Fe, which could not have been produced by a Chandrasekhar-mass SN Ia. Large deficiencies of Ni/Fe, Cu/Fe and Zn/Fe also suggest the absence of alpha-rich freeze-out nucleosynthesis, favoring low-mass white dwarf progenitors of SNe Ia, near 0.95 Me, from comparisons to numerical detonation models. We also compare Mn/Fe and Ni/Fe ratios to the recent yields predicted by Shen et al., finding consistent results. To explain the [Fe/H] at -1.35 dex for COS 171 would require dilution of the SN Ia ejecta with ~10^4 Me of material, which is expected for an SN remnant expanding into a warm interstellar medium with n~1 cm^-3 . In the future, finding more stars with the unique chemical signatures we highlight here will be important for constraining the rate and environments of sub-Chandrasekhar SNe Ia.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Secondary fe-peak nuclei in the tycho supernova remnant

The Mn to Cr mass ratio in supernova ejecta has recently been proposed as a tracer of Type Ia SN progenitor metallicity. We review the advantages and problems of this observable quantity, and discuss them in the framework of two Galactic supernova remnants: the well known Tycho SNR and W49B, an older object that has been tentatively classified as Type Ia. The fluxes of the Mn and Cr Ka lines in the X-ray spectra of these SNRs observed by the Suzaku and ASCA satellites suggest progenitors of supersolar metallicity for both objects.Postprint (published version

Observational evidence for high neutronization in supernova remnants : implications for type Ia supernova progenitors

The physical process whereby a carbon–oxygen white dwarf explodes as a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) remains highly uncertain. The degree of neutronization in SN Ia ejecta holds clues to this process because it depends on the mass and the metallicity of the stellar progenitor, and on the thermodynamic history prior to the explosion. We report on a new method to determine ejecta neutronization using Ca and S lines in the X-ray spectra of Type Ia supernova remnants (SNRs). Applying this method to Suzaku data of Tycho, Kepler, 3C 397, and G337.2-0.7 in the Milky Way, and N103B in the Large Magellanic Cloud, we find that the neutronization of the ejecta in N103B is comparable to that of Tycho and Kepler, which suggests that progenitor metallicity is not the only source of neutronization in SNe Ia. We then use a grid of SN Ia explosion models to infer the metallicities of the stellar progenitors of our SNRs. The implied metallicities of 3C 397, G337.2-0.7, and N103B are major outliers compared to the local stellar metallicity distribution functions, indicating that progenitor metallicity can be ruled out as the origin of neutronization for these SNRs. Although the relationship between ejecta neutronization and equivalent progenitor metallicity is subject to uncertainties stemming from the 12C + 16O reaction rate, which affects the Ca/S mass ratio, our main results are not sensitive to these details.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Is the metallicity of their host galaxies a good measure of the metallicity of Type Ia supernovae?

The efficient use of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) for cosmological studies requires knowledge of any parameter that can affect their luminosity in either systematic or statistical ways. Observational samples of SNIa commonly use the metallicity of the host galaxy, Zhost, as an estimator of the supernova progenitor metallicity, ZIa, that is one of the primary factors affecting SNIa magnitude. Here, we present a theoretical study of the relationship between ZIa and Zhost. We follow the chemical evolution of homogeneous galaxy models together with the evolution of the supernova rates in order to evaluate the metallicity distribution function, MDF( Z), i.e. the probability that the logarithm of the metallicity of a SNIa exploding now differs in less than Z from that of its host. We analyse several model galaxies aimed to represent from active to passive galaxies, including dwarf galaxies prone to experience supernova driven outflows. We analyse as well the sensitivity of the MDF to the most uncertain ingredients of our approach: IMF, star-formation law, stellar lifetime, stellar yields, and SNIa delay-time distribution (DTD). Our results show a remarkable degree of agreement between the mean ¯ZIa in a galaxy and its Zhost when they both are measured as the CNO abundance, especially if the DTD peaks at small time delays, while the average Fe abundance of host and SNIa may differ up to 0.4-0.6 dex in passive galaxies. The dispersion of ZIa in active galaxy models is quite small, meaning that Zhost is a quite good estimator of the supernovametallicity. Passive galaxies present a larger dispersion, which is more pronounced in low mass galaxies.We present a procedure to generate random SNIa metallicities, given the host metallicity. We also discuss the use of differentmetallicity indicators: Fe vs. O, and gas-phasemetallicity vs. stellar metallicity. Finally, the results of the application of our formalism to a galactic catalogue (VESPA) suggest that SNIa come, in average, from small metallicity progenitors both at low redshifts (contrary to expectations) and in galaxies with high star-formation activity. In spite of large uncertainties in the metallicities derived from the catalogue, the gross trends of ¯ZIa vs. Zhost obtained from VESPA for different galaxy types are roughly consistent with our theoretical estimates

The imprint of presupernova evolution on supernova remnants

The evolution of Type Ia supernova binary system progenitors is highly uncertain. Several evolutionary models predict that the accretion of mass onto the white dwarf is accompanied by mass ejection from the binary in the form of a powerful wind, but very few observations have been made during the initial phase of formation of supernova remnants, when the interaction of supernova ejecta with presupernova wind could be tested. Here we present hydrodynamical simulations of supernova ejecta interaction with an ambient medium modified by presupernova wind. The structure of the ambient medium when the supernova explodes is very sensitive to the details of wind history, and the evolution of the supernova remnant can be affected during several thousand years. We have found that the forward shock expansion parameter is a good tool for discriminating between several wind models. The evolution of the supernova remnant in the presence of an ambient medium modified by interaction with presupernova wind cannot be described by a similarity solution. We also rule out simple models based on a circumstellar medium that merges smoothly with a uniform density ambient medium.Peer Reviewe

Secondary fe-peak nuclei in the tycho supernova remnant

The Mn to Cr mass ratio in supernova ejecta has recently been proposed as a tracer of Type Ia SN progenitor metallicity. We review the advantages and problems of this observable quantity, and discuss them in the framework of two Galactic supernova remnants: the well known Tycho SNR and W49B, an older object that has been tentatively classified as Type Ia. The fluxes of the Mn and Cr Ka lines in the X-ray spectra of these SNRs observed by the Suzaku and ASCA satellites suggest progenitors of supersolar metallicity for both objects

Thermal X-ray emission from shocked ejecta in Type Ia supernova remnants. II. Parameters affecting the spectrum

The supernova remnants (SNRs) left behind by Type Ia supernovae (SNe) provide an excellent opportunity for the study of these enigmatic objects. In a previous work we showed that it is possible to use the X-ray spectra of young Type Ia SNRs to explore the physics of Type Ia SNe and identify the relevant mechanism underlying these explosions. Our simulation technique is based on hydrodynamic and nonequilibrium ionization calculations of the interaction of a grid of Type Ia explosion models with the surrounding ambient medium, coupled to an X-ray spectral code. In this work we explore the influence of two key parameters on the shape of the X-ray spectrum of the ejecta: the density of the ambient medium around the SN progenitor and the efficiency of collisionless electron heating at the reverse shock. We also discuss the performance of recent three-dimensional simulations of Type Ia SN explosions in the context of the X-ray spectra of young SNRs. We find a better agreement with the observations for Type Ia SN models with stratified ejecta than for three-dimensional deflagration models with well-mixed ejecta. We conclude that our grid of Type Ia SNR models can improve our understanding of these objects and their relationship to the SNe that originated them.Peer Reviewe

The end of amnesia: A new method for measuring the metallicity of Type Ia supernova progenitors using manganese lines in supernova remnants

We propose a new method to measure the metallicity of Type Ia supernova progenitors using Mn and Cr lines in the X-ray spectra of young supernova remnants. We show that the Mn-to-Cr mass ratio in Type Ia supernova ejecta is tightly correlated with the initial metallicity of the progenitor, as determined by the neutron excess of the white dwarf material before thermonuclear runaway. We use this correlation, together with the flux of the Cr and Mn Kα X-ray lines in the Tycho supernova remnant recently detected by Suzaku, to derive a metallicity of log (Z) = − 1.32+ 0.67−0.33 for the progenitor of this supernova, which corresponds to log (Z/Z☉) = 0.60+ 0.31−0.60 according to the latest determination of the solar metallicity by Asplund and coworkers. The uncertainty in the measurement is large, but metallicities much smaller than the solar value can be confidently discarded. We discuss the implications of this result for future research on Type Ia supernova progenitors

Is there a hidden hole in type la supernova remnants?

In this paper, we report on the bulk features of the hole carved by the companion star in the material ejected during a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosion. In particular we are interested in the long-term evolution of the hole as well as in its fingerprint in the geometry of the supernova remnant (SNR) after several centuries of evolution, which is a hot topic in current SN Ia studies. We use an axisymmetric smoothed particle hydrodynamics code to characterize the geometric properties of the SNR resulting from the interaction of this ejected material with the ambient medium.Our aim is to use SNR observations to constrain the single degenerate scenario for SN Ia progenitors. Our simulations show that the hole will remain open during centuries, although its partial or total closure at later times due to hydrodynamic instabilities is not excluded. Close to the edge of the hole, the Rayleigh–Taylor instability grows faster, leading to plumes that approach the edge of the forward shock.We also discuss other geometrical properties of the simulations, like the evolution of the contact discontinuity