On the nature of supernovae Ib and Ic

TL;DR

This study uses advanced radiative-transfer simulations to explore how mixing and non-thermal processes influence the light curves and spectra of Type Ib and Ic supernovae, revealing the importance of mixing in progenitor identification.

Contribution

It demonstrates that mixing processes significantly affect supernova observables and suggests binary evolution as the likely origin for SNe IIb and Ib, contrasting with single-star models for SNe Ic.

Findings

Enhanced mixing leads to earlier re-brightening and faster fading of light curves.

HeI lines require mixing that places 56Ni and helium within gamma-ray mean free path.

Progenitors of SNe IIb and Ib are likely binary stripped-envelope stars.

Abstract

Using non-LTE time-dependent radiative-transfer calculations, we study the impact of mixing and non-thermal processes associated with radioactive decay on SN IIb/Ib/Ic light curves (LCs) and spectra. Starting with short-period binary models of \leq5Msun He-rich stars (18-25Msun on the main-sequence), we produce 1.2B ejecta which we artificially mix to alter the chemical stratification. While the total 56Ni mass influences the LC peak, the spatial distribution of 56Ni, controlled by mixing processes, impacts both the multi-band LCs and spectra. With enhanced mixing, our synthetic LCs start their post-breakout re-brightening phase earlier, follow a more gradual rise to peak, appear redder, and fade faster after peak due to enhanced gamma-ray escape. Non-thermal electrons, crucial for the production of HeI lines, deposit a dominant fraction of their energy as heat. Because energy deposition is generally local well after the LC peak, the broad HeI lines characteristic of maximum-light SN IIb/Ib spectra require mixing that places 56Ni and helium nuclei to within a gamma-ray mean-free-path. This requirement indicates that SNe IIb and Ib most likely arise from the explosion of stripped-envelope massive stars (main-sequence masses \leq25Msun) that have evolved through mass-transfer in a binary system, rather than from more massive single WR stars. In contrast, the lack of HeI lines in SNe Ic may result from a variety of causes: A genuine helium deficiency; strongly-asymmetric mixing; weak mixing; or a more massive, perhaps single, progenitor characterized by a larger oxygen-rich core. Our models, subject to different mixing magnitudes, can produce a variety of SN types, including IIb, IIc, Ib, and Ic. As it is poorly constrained by explosion models, mixing challenges our ability to infer the progenitor and explosion properties of SNe IIb/Ib/Ic.