The origin of the Crab Nebula and the electron capture supernova in 8-10 M solar mass stars

The chemical composition of the Crab Nebula is compared with several presupernova models. The small carbon and oxygen abundances in the helium-rich nebula are consistent with only the presupernova model of the star whose main sequence mass was MMS approximately 8-9.5 M. More massive stars contain too much carbon in the helium layer and smaller mass stars do not leave neutron stars. The progenitor star of the Crab Nebula lost appreciable part of the hydrogen-rich envelope before the hydrogen-rich and helium layers were mixed by convection. Finally it exploded as the electron capture supernova; the O+Ne+Mg core collapsed to form a neutron star and only the extended helium-rich envelope was ejected by the weak shock wave

White dwarf models for type 1 supernovae and quiet supernovae, and presupernova evolution

Supernova mechanisms in accreting white dwarfs are considered with emphasis on deflagration as a plausible mechanism for producing Type I supernovae and electron captures to form quiet supernovae leaving neutron stars. These outcomes depend on accretion rate of helium, initial mass and composition of the white dwarf. The various types of hydrogen shell burning in the presupernova stage are also discussed

Nucleosynthesis in Type Ia Supernovae

Among the major uncertainties involved in the Chandrasekhar mass models for Type Ia supernovae are the companion star of the accreting white dwarf (or the accretion rate that determines the carbon ignition density) and the flame speed after ignition. We present nucleosynthesis results from relatively slow deflagration (1.5 - 3 % of the sound speed) to constrain the rate of accretion from the companion star. Because of electron capture, a significant amount of neutron-rich species such as ^{54}Cr, ^{50}Ti, ^{58}Fe, ^{62}Ni, etc. are synthesized in the central region. To avoid the too large ratios of ^{54}Cr/^{56}Fe and ^{50}Ti/^{56}Fe, the central density of the white dwarf at thermonuclear runaway must be as low as \ltsim 2 \e9 \gmc. Such a low central density can be realized by the accretion as fast as \dot M \gtsim 1 \times 10^{-7} M_\odot yr^{-1}. These rapidly accreting white dwarfs might correspond to the super-soft X-ray sources.Comment: 10 page LaTeX, 7 PostScript figures, to appear in Nuclear Physics A, Vol. A621 (1997

Merging White Dwarfs and Thermonuclear Supernovae

Thermonuclear supernovae result when interaction with a companion reignites nuclear fusion in a carbon-oxygen white dwarf, causing a thermonuclear runaway, a catastrophic gain in pressure, and the disintegration of the whole white dwarf. It is usually thought that fusion is reignited in near-pycnonuclear conditions when the white dwarf approaches the Chandrasekhar mass. I briefly describe two long-standing problems faced by this scenario, and our suggestion that these supernovae instead result from mergers of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs, including those that produce sub-Chandrasekhar mass remnants. I then turn to possible observational tests, in particular those that test the absence or presence of electron captures during the burning.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figures, accepted for publication in Phil. Tr. A, proc. of New windows on transients across the Universe, ed. P. O'Brien et al.; v2 includes changes following comments by the 2 referee

Metallicity structure in X-ray bright galaxy groups

Using Chandra X-ray data of a sample of 15 X-ray bright galaxy groups, we present preliminary results of a coherent study of the radial distribution of metal abundances in the hot gas in groups. The iron content in group outskirts is found to be lower than in clusters by a factor of ~2, despite showing mean levels in the central regions comparable to those of clusters. The abundance profiles are used to constrain the contribution from supernovae type Ia and II to the chemical enrichment and thermal energy of the intragroup medium at different group radii. The results suggest a scenario in which a substantial fraction of the chemical enrichment of groups took place in filaments prior to group collapse.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of ESO Astrophysics Symposia: "Groups of Galaxies in the Nearby Universe", eds. I. Saviane, V. Ivanov, J. Burissova (Springer

Optical Emission from Aspherical Supernovae and the Hypernova SN 1998bw

A fully 3D Monte Carlo scheme is applied to compute optical bolometric light curves for aspherical (jet-like) supernova explosion models. Density and abundance distributions are taken from hydrodynamic explosion models, with the energy varied as a parameter to explore the dependence. Our models show initially a very large degree ($\sim 4$ depending on model parameters) of boosting luminosity toward the polar ($z$) direction relative to the equatorial ($r$) plane, which decreases as the time of peak is approached. After the peak, the factor of the luminosity boost remains almost constant ($\sim 1.2$) until the supernova enters the nebular phase. This behavior is due mostly to the aspherical $^{56}$Ni distribution in the earlier phase and to the disk-like inner low-velocity structure in the later phase. Also the aspherical models yield an earlier peak date than the spherical models, especially if viewed from near the z-axis. Aspherical models with ejecta mass \sim 10\Msun are examined, and one with the kinetic energy of the expansion $\sim 2 \pm 0.5 \times 10^{52}$ ergs and a mass of $^{56}$Ni \sim 0.4\Msun yields a light curve in agreement with the observed light curve of SN 1998bw (the prototypical hyper-energetic supernova). The aspherical model is also at least qualitatively consistent with evolution of photospheric velocities, showing large velocities near the z-axis, and with a late-phase nebular spectrum. The viewing angle is close to the z-axis, strengthening the case for the association of SN 1998bw with the gamma ray burst GRB980425.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. 28 pages, 14 figure

The Connection between Gamma-Ray Bursts and Extremely Metal-Poor Stars as Nucleosynthetic Probes of the Early Universe

The connection between the long GRBs and Type Ic Supernovae (SNe) has revealed the interesting diversity: (i) GRB-SNe, (ii) Non-GRB Hypernovae (HNe), (iii) X-Ray Flash (XRF)-SNe, and (iv) Non-SN GRBs (or dark HNe). We show that nucleosynthetic properties found in the above diversity are connected to the variation of the abundance patterns of extremely-metal-poor (EMP) stars, such as the excess of C, Co, Zn relative to Fe. We explain such a connection in a unified manner as nucleosynthesis of hyper-aspherical (jet-induced) explosions Pop III core-collapse SNe. We show that (1) the explosions with large energy deposition rate, $\dot{E}_{\rm dep}$, are observed as GRB-HNe and their yields can explain the abundances of normal EMP stars, and (2) the explosions with small $\dot{E}_{\rm dep}$ are observed as GRBs without bright SNe and can be responsible for the formation of the C-rich EMP (CEMP) and the hyper metal-poor (HMP) stars. We thus propose that GRB-HNe and the Non-SN GRBs (dark HNe) belong to a continuous series of BH-forming stellar deaths with the relativistic jets of different $\dot{E}_{\rm dep}$.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. To appear in "Massive Stars as Cosmic Engines", Proceedings of IAU Symposium 250 (December 2007, Kauai), eds. F. Bresolin, P.A. Crowther, & J. Puls (Cambridge Univ. Press

Comment on "Heavy element production in inhomogeneous big bang nucleosynthesis"

The work of Matsuura et al. [Phys. Rev. D 72, 123505 (2005); astro-ph/0507439] claims that heavy nuclei could have been produced in a combined p- and r-process in very high baryon density regions of an inhomogeneous big bang. However, they do not account for observational constraints and previous studies which show that such high baryon density regions did not significantly contribute to big bang abundances.Comment: 2 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev. D on Feb 23, 200

Evolution of Rotating Accreting White Dwarfs and the Diversity of Type Ia Supernovae

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have relatively uniform light curves and spectral evolution, which make SNe Ia useful standard candles to determine cosmological parameters. However, the peak brightness is not completely uniform, and the origin of the diversity has not been clear. We examine whether the rotation of progenitor white dwarfs (WDs) can be the important source of the diversity of the brightness of SNe Ia. We calculate the structure of rotating WDs with an axisymmetric hydrostatic code. The diversity of the mass induced by the rotation is ~0.08 Msun and is not enough to explain the diversity of luminosity. However, we found the following relation between the initial mass of the WDs and their final state; i.e., a WD of smaller initial mass will rotate more rapidly before the supernova explosion than that of larger initial mass. This result might explain the dependence of SNe Ia on their host galaxies.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure