11 research outputs found

    Time-Dependent Spectropolarimetric Modeling of Interacting Core Collapse Supernovae

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    Explosive deaths of massive stars in core collapse supernovae are rare events that are only observed with any frequency at large intergalactic distances. This makes identification of progenitors difficult and massive star evolution a challenge to pin down. This dissertation addresses the question of how the properties of the circumstellar environment around supernovae can be used to identify progenitors via their mass loss history. Massive stars all lose mass through a variety of mechanisms that are characteristic of their mass, age, and binarity. This gives rise to a wide range of circumstellar environments which with supernovae may interact, producing multi-component emission lines with polarization profiles that are degenerately dependent on the properties of the medium and change over time. My dissertation approaches this problem computationally by modeling the polarized H-alpha emission lines for CSM with combinations of different morphologies and optical parameters. My dissertation work fits these models against the polarized spectra of the Type IIn SNe 1997eg and 2010jl as a tool to diagnose their CSM properties and and constrain their mass loss histories. I find that both of these supernovae are preferentially fit by models with inclinations of close to 90 degrees and high shock luminosities. This suggests that an inclination effect may be a requirement in whether an interacting SNe presents observationally as a IIn

    Spectropolarimetry of SN 2011dh in M51: geometric insights on a Type IIb supernova progenitor and explosion

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    We present seven epochs of spectropolarimetry of the Type IIb supernova (SN) 2011dh in M51, spanning 86 days of its evolution. The first epoch was obtained 9 days after the explosion, when the photosphere was still in the depleted hydrogen layer of the stripped-envelope progenitor. Continuum polarization is securely detected at the level of P~0.5% through day 14 and appears to diminish by day 30, which is different from the prevailing trends suggested by studies of other core-collapse SNe. Time-variable modulations in P and position angle are detected across P-Cygni line features. H-alpha and HeI polarization peak after 30 days and exhibit position angles roughly aligned with the earlier continuum, while OI and CaII appear to be geometrically distinct. We discuss several possibilities to explain the evolution of the continuum and line polarization, including the potential effects of a tidally deformed progenitor star, aspherical radioactive heating by fast-rising plumes of Ni-56 from the core, oblique shock breakout, or scattering by circumstellar material. While these possibilities are plausible and guided by theoretical expectations, they are not unique solutions to the data. The construction of more detailed hydrodynamic and radiative-transfer models that incorporate complex aspherical geometries will be required to further elucidate the nature of the polarized radiation from SN 2011dh and other Type IIb supernovae.Comment: Post-proof edit. Accepted to MNRAS 2015 Aug 1

    Comparison of the Core-Collapse Evolution of Two Nearly Equal Mass Progenitors

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    We compare the core-collapse evolution of a pair of 15.8 M⊙M_\odot stars with significantly different internal structures, a consequence of bimodal variability exhibited by massive stars during their late evolutionary stages. The 15.78 and 15.79 M⊙M_\odot progenitors have core masses of 1.47 and 1.78 M⊙M_\odot and compactness parameters ξ1.75\xi_{1.75} of 0.302 and 0.604. The core collapse simulations are carried out in 2D to nearly 3 s post-bounce and show substantial differences in the times of shock revival and explosion energies. The 15.78 M⊙M_\odot model explodes promptly at 120 ms post-bounce when a strong density decrement at the Si--Si/O shell interface encounters the stalled shock. The 15.79 M⊙M_\odot model, which lacks the density decrement, takes 100 ms longer to explode but ultimately produces a more powerful explosion. Larger mass accretion rate of the 15.79 M⊙M_\odot model during the first 0.8 s post-bounce results in larger νe\nu_{e}/νˉe\bar \nu_{e} luminosities and rms energies. The νe\nu_{e}/νˉe\bar \nu_{e} luminosities and rms energies arising from the inner core are also larger in the 15.79 M⊙M_\odot model throughout due to the larger negative temperature gradient of this core due to greater adiabatic compression. Larger luminosities and rms energies in the 15.79 M⊙M_\odot model and a flatter and higher density heating region, result in more energy deposition behind the shock and more ejected matter with higher enthalpy. We find the ejected 56^{56}Ni mass of the 15.79 M⊙M_\odot model is more than double that of the 15.78 M⊙M_\odot model. Most of the ejecta in both models is moderately proton-rich, though counterintuitively the highest electron fraction (Ye=0.61Y_e=0.61) ejecta in either model is in the less energetic 15.78 M⊙M_\odot model while the lowest electron fraction (Ye=0.45Y_e=0.45) ejecta in either model is in the 15.79 M⊙M_\odot model.Comment: 24 pages; Submitted to Ap

    SN2012ab: A Peculiar Type IIn Supernova with Aspherical Circumstellar Material

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    We present photometry, spectra, and spectropolarimetry of supernova (SN) 2012ab, mostly obtained over the course of ∼300\sim 300 days after discovery. SN 2012ab was a Type IIn (SN IIn) event discovered near the nucleus of spiral galaxy 2MASXJ12224762+0536247. While its light curve resembles that of SN 1998S, its spectral evolution does not. We see indications of CSM interaction in the strong intermediate-width emission features, the high luminosity (peak at absolute magnitude M=−19.5M=-19.5), and the lack of broad absorption features in the spectrum. The Hα\alpha emission undergoes a peculiar transition. At early times it shows a broad blue emission wing out to −14,000-14{,}000 km s−1\mathrm{s^{-1}} and a truncated red wing. Then at late times (>> 100 \,days) it shows a truncated blue wing and a very broad red emission wing out to roughly +20,000+20{,}000 km s−1\mathrm{s^{-1}}. This late-time broad red wing probably arises in the reverse shock. Spectra also show an asymmetric intermediate-width Hα\alpha component with stronger emission on the red side at late times. The evolution of the asymmetric profiles requires a density structure in the distant CSM that is highly aspherical. Our spectropolarimetric data also suggest asphericity with a strong continuum polarization of ∼1−3\sim 1-3% and depolarization in the Hα\alpha line, indicating asphericity in the CSM at a level comparable to that in other SNe IIn. We estimate a mass-loss rate of M˙=0.050 M⊙ yr−1\dot{M} = 0.050\, {\rm M}_{\odot}\,\mathrm{yr^{-1}} for vpre=100v_{\rm pre} = 100 \,km \,s−1\mathrm{s^{-1}} extending back at least 75 \,yr prior to the SN. The strong departure from axisymmetry in the CSM of SN 2012ab may suggest that the progenitor was an eccentric binary system undergoing eruptive mass loss.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure

    Health-status outcomes with invasive or conservative care in coronary disease

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    BACKGROUND In the ISCHEMIA trial, an invasive strategy with angiographic assessment and revascularization did not reduce clinical events among patients with stable ischemic heart disease and moderate or severe ischemia. A secondary objective of the trial was to assess angina-related health status among these patients. METHODS We assessed angina-related symptoms, function, and quality of life with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) at randomization, at months 1.5, 3, and 6, and every 6 months thereafter in participants who had been randomly assigned to an invasive treatment strategy (2295 participants) or a conservative strategy (2322). Mixed-effects cumulative probability models within a Bayesian framework were used to estimate differences between the treatment groups. The primary outcome of this health-status analysis was the SAQ summary score (scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status). All analyses were performed in the overall population and according to baseline angina frequency. RESULTS At baseline, 35% of patients reported having no angina in the previous month. SAQ summary scores increased in both treatment groups, with increases at 3, 12, and 36 months that were 4.1 points (95% credible interval, 3.2 to 5.0), 4.2 points (95% credible interval, 3.3 to 5.1), and 2.9 points (95% credible interval, 2.2 to 3.7) higher with the invasive strategy than with the conservative strategy. Differences were larger among participants who had more frequent angina at baseline (8.5 vs. 0.1 points at 3 months and 5.3 vs. 1.2 points at 36 months among participants with daily or weekly angina as compared with no angina). CONCLUSIONS In the overall trial population with moderate or severe ischemia, which included 35% of participants without angina at baseline, patients randomly assigned to the invasive strategy had greater improvement in angina-related health status than those assigned to the conservative strategy. The modest mean differences favoring the invasive strategy in the overall group reflected minimal differences among asymptomatic patients and larger differences among patients who had had angina at baseline
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