Insights into thermonuclear supernovae from the incomplete Si-burning process

Type Ia supernova (SNIa) explosions synthesize a few tenths to several tenths of a solar mass, whose composition is the result of incomplete silicon burning that reaches peak temperatures of 4 GK to 5 GK. The elemental abundances are sensitive to the physical conditions in the explosion, making their measurement a promising clue to uncovering the properties of the progenitor star and of the explosion itself. Using a parameterized description of the thermodynamic history of matter undergoing incomplete silicon burning, we computed the final composition for a range of parameters wide enough to encompass current models of SNIa. Then, we searched for combinations of elemental abundances that trace the parameters values and are potentially measurable. For this purpose, we divide the present study into two epochs of SNIa, namely the optical epoch, from a few weeks to several months after the explosion, and the X-ray epoch, which refers to the time period in which the supernova remnant is young, starting one or two hundred years age and ending a thousand years after the event. During the optical epoch, the only SNIa property that can be extracted from the detection of incomplete silicon burning elements is the neutron excess of the progenitor white dwarf at thermal runaway, which can be determined through measuring the ratio of the abundance of manganese to that of titanium, chromium, or vanadium. Conversely, in the X-ray epoch, any abundance ratio built using a couple of elements from titanium, vanadium, chromium, or manganese may constrain the initial neutron excess. Furthermore, measuring the ratio of the abundances of vanadium to manganese in the X-ray might shed light on the timescale of the thermonuclear explosion.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

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

White dwarf collisions, a promising scenario to account for meteoritic anomalies

It is commonly accepted that collisions between white dwarfs (WD) are rare events that only occur in the dense interior of globular clusters or in the dense outskirts around the central galactic black holes, and are therefore disregarded as an important source of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa). Although the majority of these encounters will not result in a SNIa event, many of them will produce mass ejections. Under the appropriate circumstances, this material can become part of a protostar nebula, including the pre-solar one, in the form of stardust leading to the existence of chemical anomalies in meteorites. We describe a WD-WD collision scenario that potentially might explain the so called Ne-E anomaly found in some primitive meteorites like Orgueil and Murchison.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

White dwarf collisions, a promising scenario to account for meteoritic anomalies

It is commonly accepted that collisions between white dwarfs (WD) are rare events that only occur in the dense interior of globular clusters or in the dense outskirts around the central galactic black holes, and are therefore disregarded as an important source of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa). Although the majority of these encounters will not result in a SNIa event, many of them will produce mass ejections. Under the appropriate circumstances, this material can become part of a protostar nebula, including the pre-solar one, in the form of stardust leading to the existence of chemical anomalies in meteorites. We describe a WD-WD collision scenario that potentially might explain the so called Ne-E anomaly found in some primitive meteorites like Orgueil and Murchison.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Coulomb corrections to the equation of state of nuclear statistical equilibrium matter: implications for SNIa nucleosynthesis and the accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs

Coulomb corrections to the equation of state of degenerate matter are usually neglected in high-temperature regimes, owing to the inverse dependence of the plasma coupling constant, G, on temperature. However, nuclear statistical equilibrium matter is characterized by a large abundance by mass of large-Z (iron group) nuclei. It is found that Coulomb corrections to the ion ideal gas equation of state of matter in nuclear statistical equilibrium are important at temperatures T≲5–10×109 K and densities ρ≳108 g cm−3. At a temperature T=8.5×109 K and a density ρ=8×109 g cm−3, the neutronization rate is larger by ≳28 per cent when Coulomb corrections are included. However, the conductive velocity of a thermonuclear deflagration wave in C-O drops by ∼16 per cent when Coulomb corrections to the heat capacity are taken into account. The implications for SNIa models and nucleosynthesis, and also for the accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs, are discussed. Particularly relevant is the result that the minimum density for collapse of a white dwarf to a neutron star is shifted down to 5.5–6×109 g cm−3, a value substantially lower than previously thought.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Sensitivity study of explosive nucleosynthesis in type Ia supernovae: Modification of individual thermonuclear reaction rates

Background: Type Ia supernovae contribute significantly to the nucleosynthesis of many Fe-group and intermediate-mass elements. However, the robustness of nucleosynthesis obtained via models of this class of explosions has not been studied in depth until now. Purpose: We explore the sensitivity of the nucleosynthesis resulting from thermonuclear explosions of massive white dwarfs with respect to uncertainties in nuclear reaction rates. We put particular emphasis on indentifying the individual reactions rates that most strongly affect the isotopic products of these supernovae. Method: We have adopted a standard one-dimensional delayed detonation model of the explosion of a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf and have postprocessed the thermodynamic trajectories of every mass shellwith a nucleosynthetic code to obtain the chemical composition of the ejected matter. We have considered increases (decreases) by a factor of 10 on the rates of 1196 nuclear reactions (simultaneously with their inverse reactions), repeating the nucleosynthesis calculations after modification of each reaction rate pair. We have computed as well hydrodynamic models for different rates of the fusion reactions of 12C and of 16O. From the calculations we have selected the reactions that have the largest impact on the supernova yields, and we have computed again the nucleosynthesis using two or three alternative prescriptions for their rates, taken from the JINA REACLIB database. For the three reactions with the largest sensitivity we have analyzed as well the temperature ranges where a modification of their rates has the strongest effect on nucleosynthesis. Results: The nucleosynthesis resulting from the type Ia supernova models is quite robust with respect to variations of nuclear reaction rates,with the exception of the reaction of fusion of two 12C nuclei. The energy of the explosion changes by less than ∼4% when the rates of the reactions 12C + 12C or 16O + 16O are multiplied by a factor of ×10 or ×0.1. The changes in the nucleosynthesis owing to the modification of the rates of these fusion reactions are also quite modest; for instance, no species with a mass fraction larger than 0.02 experiences a variation of its yield larger than a factor of 2. We provide the sensitivity of the yields of the most abundant species with respect to the rates of the most intense reactions with protons, neutrons, and α. In general, the yields of Fe-group nuclei are more robust than the yields of intermediate-mass elements. Among the species with yields larger than 10−8M , 35S has the largest sensitivity to the nuclear reaction rates. It is remarkable that the reactions involving elements with Z > 22 have a tiny influence on the supernova nucleosynthesis. Among the charged-particle reactions, the most influential on supernova nucleosynthesis are 30Si + p 31P + γ , 20Ne + α 24Mg + γ , and 24Mg + α 27Al + p. The temperatures at which a modification of their rate has a larger impact are in the range 2 T 4 GK.Postprint (published version

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

Computer simulations using implicit Lagrangian hydrodynamics in 3D

The method known as Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is an important tool in modern numerical Astrophysics. It has been extensively used to simulate a large number of systems ranging from planets to clusters of galaxies. Nevertheless current applications of the method are restricted to dynamical situations because of the limitations in the time-step imposed by the Courant condition. Here we describe the main features of a new implicit SPH code which is able to handle with several thousand particles and, therefore, it can be used to simulate slowly evolving systems.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Supernovae and dark energy

A decade ago the observations of thermonuclear supernovae at high-redhifts showed that the expansion rate of the Universe is accelerating and since then, the evidence for cosmic acceleration has gotten stronger. This acceleration requires that the Universe is dominated by dark energy, an exotic component characterized by its negative pressure. Nowadays all the available astronomical data (i.e. thermonuclear supernovae, cosmic microwave background, barionic acoustic oscillations, large scale structure, etc.) agree that our Universe is made of about 70% of dark energy, 25% of cold dark matter and only 5% of known, familiar matter. This Universe is geometrically flat, older than previously thought, its destiny is no longer linked to its geometry but to dark energy, and we ignore about 95% of its components. To understand the nature of dark energy is probably the most fundamental problem in physics today. Current astronomical observations are compatible with dark energy being the vacuum energy. Supernovae have played a fundamental role in modern Cosmology and it is expected that they will contribute to unveil the dark energy. In order to do that it is mandatory to understand the limits of supernovae as cosmological distance indicators, improving their precision by a factor 10.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version