Type Ia supernovae and stellar winds in AGN driven relativistic bubbles

TL;DR

This paper investigates how stellar winds and Type Ia supernova remnants behave within relativistic bubbles driven by active galactic nuclei, revealing their limited impact on bubble expansion and potential for enriching intracluster gas with metals.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the dynamics of stellar winds and supernova remnants in AGN-driven relativistic bubbles, including effects of pressure, fragmentation, and metal enrichment processes.

Findings

Wind shells are decelerated but maintain bulk motion crossing the bubble.

Maximum SN remnant radius in the bubble is 30-40 pc if spherical.

SN ejecta can fragment and escape the bubble, enriching intracluster gas.

Abstract

We analyse behavior of stellar winds of evolved stars and the outcome of SN Ia explosions in the AGN driven relativistic bubble. We find that the expansion of wind shells is efficiently decelerated by the relativistic pressure; their bulk motion however is preserved so they cross the bubble together with the parent star. The wind material occupies a small fraction of bubble volume and does not affect substantially the expansion of SN remnants. The estimated maximal radius of a SN remnant in the bubble is 30-40 pc, if the envelope keeps its integrity and remains spherical. A fragmentation of SN shell due to Rayleigh-Taylor instability can alleviate the propagation of the SN material so the ejecta fragments are able to cross the relativistic bubble. Outside the bubble wind shells and supernova fragments are decelerated in the intracluster medium at close range off the bubble boundary. The deposited SNe Ia material can enrich the intracluster gas with metals in a thin layer at the boundary of the relativistic bubble. This process may lead to a rim of enhanced line emission. In the opposite limit, when the fragmentation of supernova remnant is moderate or absent, the SN Ia matter is advected by the relativistic plasma and may leave the central region of the bright cluster galaxy together with buoyantly moving bubbles.