Pair-Instability Explosions: observational evidence

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent observational evidence of pair-instability supernovae, confirming long-standing theoretical predictions that extremely massive stars can undergo thermonuclear explosions due to electron-positron pair production.

Contribution

It provides observational confirmation of pair-instability explosions in luminous supernovae, bridging the gap between theory and actual astronomical events.

Findings

Observations of luminous supernovae consistent with pair-instability models

Evidence from both nearby and distant Universe supports the existence of such explosions

Supernovae with large amounts of radioactive nickel produced

Abstract

It has been theoretically predicted many decades ago that extremely massive stars that develop large oxygen cores will become dynamically unstable, due to electron-positron pair production. The collapse of such oxygen cores leads to powerful thermonuclear explosions that unbind the star and can produce, in some cases, many solar masses of radioactive 56Ni. For many years, no examples of this process were observed in nature. Here, I briefly review recent observations of luminous supernovae that likely result from pair-instability explosions, in the nearby and distant Universe.